Housekeeper Needed
by TraceMK
Summary: Maverick and his partner Lee get more than they bargained for as their worlds are turned upside down by two girls. A fun and lighthearted romance.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer - I do not own the characters of Maverick, Lee or Ashley, or Tom Crofts. I do own Maddie, Darry and all other characters in this story._**

**_I sincerely hope you have as much fun reading this little romantic romp as I had writing it. Please, Please review if you enjoy it, or even if you don't._**

**_I would really appreciate some feedback. Anyway, read on and enjoy. Cheers TraceMK_**

" Mav, we seriously need to get some help in around here!!!" Lee exclaimed as he surveyed the mess that he and his partner, Maverick, called home.

Captains Lee Sanders and Adam Mitchell, call sign Maverick, were senior instructors at Miramar Airbase, teaching the best and brightest of the Navy's fighter pilots, pushing them to be even better. Maverick was the Navy's top fighter pilot, and Lee it's top navigator. They were well known around Miramar as having achieved the highest point score ever during Top Gun training. This and the fact that they were both available and very attractive made them two of the hottest catches in town. Lee was tall with dark hair, classically handsome and had a pair of piercing green eyes that seemed to be capable of seeing right into your very soul. Coming from a wealthy upbringing, he had also acquired a certain air of sophistication that women seemed to find irresistible.

Maverick, on the other hand was a simple country boy and it showed in his pleasant manner and easygoing nature. Slightly shorter than Lee, he also had dark hair, boyish good looks and a disarmingly cheeky smile that was never far from his face. His eyes were as blue as the sky on a clear sunny day, more often than not sparkling with mischief.

Along with Maverick's seven-year-old son, Darry, they shared a four-bedroom house on the base, and the boys were having trouble keeping up with the demands of their jobs, looking after a child and managing the housework.

"Maybe you should bite the bullet and actually keep one of your bed warmers for longer than one night Lee" Maverick threw a cheeky grin at his partner, having a dig at Lee's habit of loving and leaving the girls.

"No chance Mav, besides could you stand having to listen to constant airhead babble if one of them actually did stick around?" Lee countered.

" You're probably right, it wouldn't be worth it" Maverick agreed. "Maybe we should advertise, I mean, we have a spare bedroom. Maybe we could trade that for a bit of housework." He suggested.

"You know, that might not be such a bad idea Mav" Lee looked at his partner thoughtfully. "There might be someone out there that would be happy to trade free accommodation in return for some housework and maybe dropping Darry off at school and picking him up in the afternoons. It would be perfect for someone who wanted to work from home or was studying."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to advertise," Maverick agreed " We can always say no if we don't like the applicants. We probably shouldn't include our names in the ad though, or we'll end up with the entire contingent of single girls from the club applying."

"And that would be a bad thing why?" Lee grinned at his partner wickedly " I could always give them a personal physical each."

"Yeah, you'd love that wouldn't you?" Maverick laughed at his partner's suggestion. "But seriously Lee, lets keep this anonymous and see what we get."

Together they drafted a suitable advertisement and lodged it with the local newspaper, then tackled the monstrous job of trying to get the house back into some kind of order before Darry got home from an overnight stay at a friends house.


	2. Chapter 2

Ashley circled the ad in the newspaper. This one sounded promising.

"Free room and board in share house available in return for some light housekeeping and babysitting duties. All utilities included. Prefer single non-smoker. Please leave contact details on the below number."

This could be the break she had been looking for.

She had arrived in Miramar two weeks ago, still reeling from the collapse of the Interior Design business partnership she had been a part of in Los Angeles.

She still wasn't sure what she was going to do, it was all too new and painful. Her partner, someone in whom she had placed the utmost trust, had completely betrayed her and had done a runner with all the proceeds from the business.

Ashley had not only lost her business, but had also been forced to sell her apartment to pay the creditors. She had no choice in this. She needed to keep a good relationship with them, as they would be vital to her survival within her chosen field. Now she found herself back at square one, using up the last of her savings on a small motel room in a town she knew very little about.

She had chosen Miramar by closing her eyes and sticking a drawing pin into a map. It seemed as good an option as any, and at least she hadn't ended up in Alaska. Maybe she could pick up some design work through the local naval base.

Her money was beginning to run low, and all she had left was her car and her clothes, so she knew she had to do something and soon. If she could put an inexpensive roof over her head, at least it would give her a base to begin rebuilding her life from.

She took a deep breath, picked up the telephone and made the call.

*****************************************************

"You have a visitor Sir, she's waiting in your office." The young naval officer nervously advised his CO as he entered the room.

Commander Tom Crofts looked at the young man with narrowed eyes.

"Well Lieutenant, does she have a name?" he asked, his tone somewhat impatient.

"I'm sure she does Sir, but she wouldn't give it to me. She said it would spoil the surprise." The young Lieutenant visibly cringed, knowing that his CO would not be happy with this lack of information. Normally he would have been more insistent, ensuring that he obtained all relevant details on the visitor. He still wasn't sure exactly how she had managed to talk her way into her current position. He had been well and truly blindsided, taken in by her sweet talk and that smile.

"We will discuss this situation later Lieutenant." Tom was fairly sure he knew who was waiting for him on the other side of the door, and if he was correct, he couldn't really blame the Lieutenant for falling victim to her charms. He turned and headed towards the door to his office.

"Madison, those files are classified, and take your feet off my desk." Tom tried his best to sound forceful, while attempting to hide the smile forming on his face.

The gorgeous brunette sitting in his chair grinned cheekily at him and threw him a mock salute.

"Yes Sir Commander Thomas Sir." She rose from the chair and attempted to stand at attention.

"Knock it off Maddie" Tom laughed at his sister in law. "Come here and give me a hug, it's so good to see you." She moved quickly around the desk and into his already outstretched arms for a friendly embrace.

Tom had always had a soft spot for his wife's younger sister. After all, Maddie had been the one who introduced him to Karen. In some respects, she and Karen were very alike, even though there was a ten-year age difference between them. They were about the same height and both had lovely, wavy dark hair. But that was where the similarities ended. Karen was a very attractive lady, well versed in all aspects of etiquette, with a gentle, quiet demeanor that had made her the perfect officer's wife. Maddie, on the other hand, was anything but quiet. Strikingly beautiful, she exuded a natural confidence and her fun, outgoing personality and obvious intelligence drew men to her like moths to a flame. Tom sighed to himself. If Maddie was going to be in town for a while, he knew he could expect more disruptions to his normally routine existence.

"Now I hear that you have been giving my young Lieutenant a hard time, Ms Harris." He smiled down at her. Maddies smoky blue-grey eyes sparkled as she smiled at him innocently.

"I don't know what you are talking about Thomas, I was very polite to him."

"I'll bet you were, that's why he's sitting out there dumbstruck, staring out the window. I'll be lucky if I get any more work out of him for the rest of the day now." He scolded her gently.

"Now Tom, is it my fault if I know how to use my natural talents to my advantage. I wanted to surprise you." She pouted prettily.

"Well you've managed to do that." He laughed at her. "Does Karen know you're here yet?"

"I dropped by the house, but nobody was home, so I thought I'd come and see you first." Maddie answered.

"I think she may have been at a meeting with the charity committee. She's so busy with these things I can hardly keep up with where she is on any given day." Tom explained. He was very proud of how involved his wife was in all the aspects of base life.

"Well then, you can take me to lunch while I wait for her to get home Thomas." Maddie threw Tom one of her famous come hither smiles.

"Alright, you can lay off the heart stoppers Maddie, you know they don't work on me anymore." Tom reminded her. "I am hungry though, so lunch sounds good. You just make sure that you behave yourself. Remember, I am in charge around here."

"Whatever you say Commander." Maddie teased him. She linked her arm through his and blew a kiss to the confused young Lieutenant on their way out.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is hopeless Lee!!!" Maverick flopped onto the lounge, totally exasperated after interviewing the tenth prospective housemate. "I don't think any of them would be capable of looking after themselves, let alone be left in charge of a household or my son for that matter."

They had been interviewing applicants all morning, and so far things were looking dismal. Not one of them had come even close to what Maverick and Lee were looking for in a potential housemate and they were on the verge of giving up on the idea all together.

"Well, we have one more to see Mav, a Ms Ashley Kazanski, and then it'll all be over." Lee soothed his partner. "I wonder if she's any relation to Iceman." He wondered aloud, thinking briefly about their fellow instructor who shared the same last name.

"Great, that would be all we need, a relative of Frosty's living in our house." Maverick groaned. The doorbell went and Lee rose from his seat to answer it.

Ashley took in the surroundings as she waited for the door to be answered. The house was a reasonable size, and was in good condition. The gardens could do with a bit of work, but that was not unusual. Being an Interior Designer, she had seen houses and gardens in far worse states than this one, so she relaxed a little in the knowledge that all of her time wouldn't be taken up in getting this house sorted out first.

She had tried not to get her hopes up when she received a return phone call from a Captain Sanders to arrange an interview time. She really needed this, but didn't want to appear desperate, so had decided to play it cool during the interview. She had chosen to dress neatly in a nice pair of jeans and a green three quarter length shirt that complimented her striking long auburn hair. She had decided against make up, as she didn't normally wear it and felt it would make her appear to be something that she was not.

"They'll either like me for me or they won't" She thought to herself. She took a deep, steadying breath as the door opened.

Lee almost did a double take when he opened the door. Standing on his front porch smiling at him was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. Her long thick hair was the most unusual shade of auburn he had ever seen. Her complexion was flawless without any help from make up and the friendly smile on her pretty face reached into her warm blue eyes. He had to stop himself from offering her the room right there and then.

"Hi, Captain Sanders is it? I'm Ashley Kazanski." She broke into Lee's thoughts. " We spoke on the phone." She prompted him. "You know, about the room." She continued, waiting for a response.

"Oh sure, sorry." Lee stammered "Come on in, my housemate is in the lounge room."

"You have a nice place here Captain Sanders." Ashley commented as she took in what she could see of the interior of the house.

"Thanks, and please call me Lee." He answered with a smile. "I get enough of that Captain stuff from the trainees. Mav, Ms Kazanski is here." He warned his partner to get up from the lounge as they entered the room.

Maverick stood up and gave Ashley a welcoming smile.

"Oh boy, maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all." She thought to herself. "How am I expected to share a house with two guys that look like this and stay sane."

They offered her a cup of coffee and the interview began. To her surprise she was feeling completely at ease within five minutes of being there, and before she knew it, they had been chatting away for over an hour when the front door slammed and a little boy of about seven ran into the room.

"Hi Dad, hi Uncle Lee, who's this?" He stopped in his tracks when he saw Ashley. "Don't tell me, it's your latest girlfriend, isn't it?" He grinned cheekily at Lee.  
"Darry, don't be such a smart arse." His father admonished. "This is Ashley and we are talking to her about the possibility of her taking the spare room and helping out a bit with the housework and looking after you, so be nice."

"Do you like cartoons?" He looked directly at Ashley, waiting for her response.

" I love them, especially the old ones, like Tom and Jerry." She met his gaze and smiled.

"Cool, she'll do Dad. I'm hungry, what have we got to eat." Darry left the room in a whirlwind.

"Well there you have it." Maverick shrugged.

"If the kid approves then I guess we can't argue with that." Lee grinned.

"Does that mean you are offering me the room?" Ashley asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

"It's all yours if you want it." Maverick told her. "You can move in whenever you like."

"Is tonight too soon?" She asked.

"No problem, do you need a hand moving your stuff?" Lee offered.

"No thanks, I don't have that much." Ashley smiled at him. " I'll see you in a couple of hours."

The boys showed her to the door and told her that they would set an extra place for dinner. They looked at each other as she drove off. Maverick could read the expression on Lee's face immediately.

"Housemate Sanders, not built in bed warmer." He warned his partner jokingly.

"Oh come on Mav, I didn't say a word." Lee replied.

"You didn't have to, I know that look. Guess we'd better go and clear our junk out of the spare room."

They both headed upstairs to get the room ready.


	4. Chapter 4

"Maddie!!!!" Karen squealed in excitement as she saw her younger sister walk through the door. "What are you doing here, why didn't you call and let me know you were coming?"

"And spoil the surprise." Maddie laughed as Karen engulfed her in a huge hug. Karen held her sister at arms length and studied her face for a moment.

"Something's wrong, isn't it? That's why you're here so suddenly." Karen gave her sister a worried look.

"Karen, nothing is wrong, I promise you." Maddie reassured her. "I just needed a break to clear my head and decide what my next move is going to be. I am seriously thinking of resigning from the firm."

"But why, I thought you were loving the challenge, and they have made you a full partner." Karen was confused. Maddie worked for a prestigious law firm in New York and had made partner a year ago. She was the first female and the youngest lawyer to ever achieve this status.

"I've seen the other side of the coin since making partner." Maddie explained. "Let's just say that the people I used to look up to are not all that they appear to be." She had become disillusioned with the corporate greed and total lack of compassion that the senior partners displayed. They didn't care about their clients at all, only about their ability to pay the exorbitant fees. She was also tired of representing wealthy high flyers, who were quite obviously guilty, but it was her job to use whatever means were available to get them off. This wasn't what she had studied and worked so hard for. She wanted to help people, not give get out of jail free passes to criminals. So she had made the decision to take a few weeks off and visit her sister and brother-in-law while she thought hard about her future.

"Well, it doesn't matter what the reason is, I'm just glad you're here." Karen smiled at her, knowing full well that her sister would make the right decision when the time came.

"You can help me with the arrangements for the welcoming BBQ tomorrow." She informed Maddie.

"Look out, it seems I've been roped into the Miramar Officer's Wives club already Tom." Maddie joked. "Let me guess, you've got a prospective husband in mind for me already."

" Maddie, you are perfectly capable of finding your own man without any help from me." Karen laughed. "Just promise me you won't go breaking any hearts while you are here." She implored.

"Well Karen, you know I can't make any promises, but I'll try to behave myself. Now what do you need me to do." She asked, happy to have something to take her mind off her current situation.

**********************************************

Ashley was greeted with varying delicious aromas wafting through the front door when she arrived back at her new home. She hesitated, unsure whether to knock or to just walk in. Her decision was made for her as the door swung open and Darry grinned up at her.

"Hi Ashley, come in." He welcomed her. "Dad and Uncle Lee are in the kitchen trying real hard not to burn dinner."

"Well it smells fantastic, whatever it is." Ashley smiled warmly back at him. She liked the little guy already.

Maverick walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a tea towel.

"Oh hi Ashley, I didn't hear you come in. Do you need a hand taking your bags up to your room?" He greeted her.

"Well I can see where Darry gets his looks and charm from." She thought to herself as she smiled back.

"I don't have much with me, just a couple of suitcases and boxes, as well as my laptop." She answered him.

"Well Lee is busy wrestling with the potatoes at the moment, so I'll give you a hand." He offered, following her outside to her car.

"You are welcome to park your car on the front lawn if you want." Maverick mentioned when he noticed she had parked out on the street.

"Thanks, I'd rather have it off the road if I can, it's one of the few assets I actually have left." She said ruefully.

"You really have had a rough time of it, haven't you." He sympathized with her. "Maybe you can look at this as the opportunity to make a whole new start."

"That's what I'm hoping Maverick. I thought I might be able to pick up a bit of Interior Design work around the base to get started." She told him.

"Well Lee and I can certainly help you out there." He offered. 'As a matter of fact, there's a BBQ at the CO's place tomorrow. Heaps of the Officer's wives will be there. You should come with us and we can introduce you around."

"Really? That would be great, thank you so much." Ashley couldn't believe her luck, things were definitely starting to look up. She followed Maverick up the stairs to her new bedroom.

Dinner was a lot of fun. She found herself quickly warming to her new housemates. They kept her entertained with stories of their exploits both on ship and on base. The food was delicious, proving that they were quite capable of doing their share, and wouldn't be completely reliant on her to provide meals, which was a relief.

When they had finished eating, Maverick excused himself and took Darry upstairs for a bath, leaving Ashley alone with Lee.

She had caught him watching her intently a few times through dinner, and was tempted to ask him if she had some food stuck on her nose, but there was something about those oh so green eyes that convinced her to stay quiet.

"So Ashley, are you happy with your room?" He asked her.

"It's fine, thanks Lee." She answered him with a smile.

"Good. It's a beautiful evening, why don't you join me on the front verandah for a drink?" He suggested, shooting her a disarming smile.

Ashley didn't trust herself to answer, so she just nodded, rose and followed him outside.

"This one is going to be very hard to resist." She thought to herself. She was determined not to get involved with either of the boys though. She didn't want to jeopardize what was turning out to be a very convenient arrangement.

Lee handed her a glass of wine and raised his glass to her.

"Here's to new housemates and new friendships." He locked his eyes with hers over the glass.

"I'll drink to that." Ashley replied and took a large gulp of the wine, averting her eyes from his. This was going to be more difficult than she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

"So whose turn is it to stir Karen up today?" Maverick asked Lee as they waited in the lounge room for Ashley to finish getting ready for the BBQ.

"I believe you have the honor today, Mitchell." Lee answered. "My shin still hurts from when she kicked me after our dirty dancing episode at the club last weekend." Both the boys laughed, remembering the indignant expression on Karen's face when Lee grabbed her backside and started gyrating wildly on the dance floor with her.

Unknown to Karen, her husband had approached the boys to enlist their help in getting his wife to loosen up a little. She was spending so much of her time with high-ranking officials wives that she was forgetting how to have fun. Tom suggested that if the boys undertook some harmless flirting with her, she might stop taking everything so seriously.

Never ones to shy away from a challenge, the boys threw themselves wholeheartedly into what they dubbed as Operation Loosenup.

"What's so funny?" Ashley asked as she walked down the stairs, looking lovely in a pretty blue off the shoulder sundress, her shining hair cascading halfway down her back.

Maverick elbowed Lee gently when he heard a sharp intake of breath beside him.

"We were just discussing a covert operation that our CO asked us to undertake a little while ago." Maverick explained to Ashley.

"Well it must be a lot of fun, judging by how amusing you both seem to find it." She commented.

"Are we ready to go?" Lee asked, shaking himself into action. He offered Ashley his arm, earning himself a warning look from his partner.

"Come on short stuff, I'll give you a ride." Maverick said to Darry as he lifted his son onto his shoulders and they walked the short distance together to the CO's house.

****************************************

Maddie busied herself with the salads in the kitchen. She was already in hot water with her sister, and the BBQ had only been underway for half an hour. Three trainees had propositioned her already and Karen was not impressed.

" Well at least I can't get into any more trouble if I stay in here." She muttered to herself, attacking a lettuce with more force than was probably needed.

Karen had always been overprotective of her, and nothing had changed as she had gotten older. Their parents were killed in a road accident when Maddie was just fourteen and Karen was twenty-four.

Karen suddenly had the responsibility of raising a young teenaged girl thrust upon her, and Maddie smiled to herself when she thought about how hard she had made it for her older sister. Maddie became something of a rebel, skipping school and sneaking out at night to frequent the local naval haunts. This is where she had met Tom. She had found herself in a bit of a sticky situation with a very young, very drunk able seaman, and was looking for an avenue of escape when the young sailor was lifted of her and tossed aside.

"Are you alright?" Her saviour had enquired, looking at her closely. "Just how old are you, young lady? Do your parents know you are here?" He hit her with an onslaught of questions.

"My parents are dead." Maddie had answered, trying hard to sound defiant and fighting back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

Tom judged the pretty young girl to be about sixteen at the most. He sighed, knowing that he would have to make sure she got home safely, even though he would rather not get involved.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift home." He told her.

"That's fine, I can walk." She retorted. He had to admire her spunk, she was a gutsy little thing.

"I wasn't giving you an alternative." He told her sternly." It's not safe around here for a pretty young thing like you."

"I can look after myself, I am fourteen you know." She challenged him.

"Get in the car." He told her. One look at his face told Maddie to stop arguing and do as she was told.

He had driven her home. Her older sister hadn't even been aware that she was missing, as she had snuck out the window. After sending her sister to her room, informing her that she was grounded for life, Karen turned to thank the handsome Naval officer for his help.

Instead, to his dismay, she promptly burst into tears. He stayed and listened to the problems she was having, offering her the comfort she so desperately sought.

A year later, they were married and Tom found himself acting as a father to a fifteen year old girl who was too smart for her own good and growing more and more beautiful every day.

Maddie smiled to herself at the fond memories of how she had come to know Tom. She was about to move on to cutting up the tomatoes when she felt two arms encircle her from behind. Before she knew what was happening, she was tipped backwards and was looking into the most perfect pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. His lips lowered onto hers and she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes and accepted the kiss, unable to stop herself from responding to the sensuous lips that were upon hers.

****************************************************

Maverick walked into the kitchen and saw Karen busy making salads.

"This is too good an opportunity to pass up." He thought to himself, grinning.

He snuck up behind her, put his arms around her and dipped her backwards for what he had planned on being a corny movie screen kiss. That should help Operation Loosenup along nicely.

What actually happened took him totally by surprise. The enchantingly beautiful face he was looking at did not belong to Karen. He knew that he should stop then and there, but something compelled him to continue. He was kissing her, not just the pretend Hollywood pash he had planned for Karen, but really kissing her, and she was responding. He felt her arms creep around his neck and her fingers run through his hair.

"Oh my god, who is this woman?" His mind was clouded with sudden desire. He wanted to lift her into his arms and carry her away, wanted so desperately to make love to her. This was crazy, he didn't even know who she was. This thought was enough to bring him back to reality. He broke away from her and gently loosened his hold on her, bringing them both upright. Her arms were still entwined around his neck, and he was shaken by the passion he saw burning in her blue-gray eyes as they locked with his.

"You're not Karen." He whispered shakily. She smiled at him, a slow, sexy smile that intensified the desire he already felt for her.

"No, I'm not Karen." She answered huskily. "I doubt she would know what to do with a kiss like that."

Karen's voice cut into their private little world.

"Maddie, where are you? I need your help out here." She called out.

She smiled again and reluctantly backed away from him. She trailed her fingernails down his arms as she moved towards the door, and then she was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Maverick leaned against the kitchen bench for support, trying to steady his breathing. Her perfume still lingered in the air,

the only evidence that she had been real and that he hadn't dreamed it all.

"So this is where you disappeared to." Lee said, walking into the kitchen with Ashley.

"Darry has found some kids to play with." He let Maverick know. He looked at his partner through narrowed eyes, sensing that something wasn't right.

"Mav, what's going on, are you ok?" He asked.

"I don't know, I'm not sure." Maverick seemed confused, then a huge smile started to spread across his face.

"Oh no" Lee groaned. "Who is she?" He knew by the look on his partners face that this had to involve a girl.

"I have no idea, but I'm going to find out." Maverick's eyes sparkled in a way that Lee hadn't seen in a very long time.

Ashley gave Lee a questioning look. Lee smiled at her.

"It appears that Captain Mitchell is in love Ashley. Now we're all in for it." He told her.

"What do you mean, we're all in for it?" She looked confused now.

"Oh don't worry, you're sharing a house with him, you'll find out." Lee said cryptically.

They followed Maverick out of the kitchen and into the backyard.

Karen saw them arrive, and went to welcome them.

"Lee, Maverick, glad you could make it." She smiled at them warmly. "And who is this?" She questioned, looking at Ashley with undisguised curiosity.

"Karen, this is Ashley, our new housemate." Lee introduced them. "Ashley, this is Karen Crofts, our CO's wife and a wealth of information on all aspects of life on the base."

"It's lovely to meet you Ashley, and if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know." She offered.

"Ashley's an Interior Designer." Lee told Karen. " We thought maybe some of the wives might be interested in getting her to do some work for them."

"Oh I'm sure there would be plenty of interest. You come with me Ashley and I'll introduce you around." Karen linked her arm through Ashley's and steered her towards a large group of well-dressed, middle aged women. Ashley looked back wide eyed at Lee as she was steered away from him. " I'll be right here, you'll be fine" He mouthed at her and gave her an encouraging smile. "Do you have a portfolio?" Karen's voice trailed off as they moved away.

"Alright loverboy." Lee turned to Maverick. "Which one is she?"

Maverick scanned the crowd, and found her serving the drinks and talking to Tom.

As though she felt his eyes on her, she looked directly at him and smiled. He felt his heart start racing again.

"Over at the drinks table, talking to Tom." He told Lee, and started to move in her direction.

"Wow, nice pick Mav, pure class." Lee whistled, but his partner had already gone.

*****************************************

"Who are you smiling at, Maddie." Tom followed the direction of her gaze.

"Who is that guy, Tom?" She asked him, not taking her eyes off Maverick as she watched him approach her.

"That happens to be one of my senior instructors." He told her, watching her carefully.

"Captain Adam Mitchell, call sign Maverick, the Navy's top fighter pilot and a really nice guy Maddie, so don't even think about playing games with him." Tom warned her.

"Who said anything about games, Thomas? Now be quiet, there's a good little brother in law." She whispered to him as Maverick arrived at the table.

"Can I get you something to drink, Captain?" She smiled at him sweetly.

"Maverick, Lee, good to see you both." Tom welcomed them. "This is Madison Harris, Karen's sister. She's here on a short holiday from New York."

He gave Maddie a sideways look.

"Tom, how have you managed to hide the fact that you have such a gorgeous sister in law from us for this long." Maverick gave her a disarming smile.

"You'll have to let me show you around while you are here, Ms Harris." He offered gallantly.

Tom looked at him in surprise. Lee was usually the smooth one.

"That's very kind of you Captain." She walked around from behind the table to stand next to him.

"And please, call me Maddie." She offered her hand in a welcoming gesture. He took her hand and met her eyes.

"Maverick, and as Tom said, this is my partner Lee." He felt a jolt go through him as they touched again, proving to him that it hadn't been his imagination,

they really did have a connection. He decided right then and there that he would go to any lengths to have this woman.

Lee watched the exchange with interest. So his partner hadn't become immune to female charm after all.

It had just taken the right one to get him back in the game again. He grinned to himself.

With Maverick distracted like this, it would clear the way for him to get to know the lovely Ashley better.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashley looked around for a reason to excuse herself. She had been politely listening to small talk between Karen and her friends for the last half an hour

and quite frankly, she was getting bored.

Maverick had been right about getting some work from them though. She already had three appointments lined up for during the week.

"So, are we having fun yet?" A sexy voice whispered in her ear.

Lee was standing right behind her, so close that she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. She turned and smiled at him.

"If you call hearing all about little Johnny's grades and hubby's latest promotion fun, then yes, I'm having an absolute blast."

She looked at him pleadingly. "Get me out of here!!!"

Lee turned to the group of women and gave them an engaging smile.

"Ladies, I'm afraid that I am going to have to steal the lovely Ashley away from you." He announced smoothly.

" The music has just started and she promised me the first dance."

He held out his hand to Ashley and gave her an inviting smile. She gladly took it and let him lead her to the makeshift dance floor,

where a few couples were already swaying to the band Karen had hired for the afternoon.

Lee pulled her in close. The smell of her beautiful hair was intoxicating.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations that were moving through him as they swayed in time with the music.

"So much for resistance." Ashley thought to herself.

She knew that if Lee decided to put the moves on her, there was no way that she would be able to fight it.

The attraction was just too strong. She allowed herself to relax in his arms and just enjoy the moment, she would worry about the complications later.

**************************************************

"So tell me Captain," Maddie threw Maverick a curious look as they moved away from the drinks table,

"Why exactly is it that you were planning to kiss my very married, very conservative sister? Don't worry, I won't tell Tom, your secret is safe with me."

Maverick laughed and turned her to face him.

"Tom already knows. It's all part of his master plan to get Karen to loosen up." He explained. "He thinks she's getting too serious for her own good."

" Oh, so when you realized it wasn't Karen, why didn't you stop?" She asked him.

" I couldn't." He told her honestly. " I can't explain it, there was just an immediate…"

" Attraction, desire?" She finished his sentence for him.

"Exactly." He smiled down at her.

"I know what you mean." He noticed that her eyes were still smoldering as she returned his gaze.

He was tempted to kiss her again right then and there, but that would take a lot of explaining as he saw Karen heading in their direction.

"Oh quick, save me from kitchen slave duties." Maddie begged him as she noted the determined expression on her sister's face as she approached.

He laughed, wrapped an arm around her waist and led her towards the dance floor.

****************************************************

Maverick watched Lee and Ashley dancing as he waited for Maddie to finish helping Karen put out the salads for lunch.

They had eluded her for a short time, but Karen had tracked them down, insisting that she needed her sister's help.

Maverick's mind was wandering back to the little interlude in the kitchen when Tom approached him.

"Mav, could I have a word please?" He asked.

"Is this the part where you warn me to keep away from the little sister Tom?" Maverick's eyes danced with mischief as he waited for the lecture from his CO.

"Not in the way you think." Tom looked serious. "Look Mav, Maddie's a beautiful girl, and I don't blame you for being attracted to her." He began.

"But I have to warn you, don't fall in love with her mate. She'll break your heart."

"Tom, I'm a big boy, I think I can look after myself." Maverick countered.

"I'm sure you can, Mav, but I'm just letting you know." He continued. "I love Maddie, she's great, but I can't see her ever settling down with one guy.

Karen and I have had to pick up the pieces before. I'd hate to have to do the same for you." He said, genuine concern in his voice.

"Go ahead and have fun with her Mav, just don't count on anything long term and you'll be fine."

"Tom, I appreciate the warning and your concern for my welfare, but like I said, I know what I'm doing." Maverick reassured his friend.

He threw him a carefree smile and said "Besides, who knows, maybe I'll be that one guy who sweeps her off her feet, the one she falls in love with."

"Many have tried and failed before you, mate." Tom said ruefully. "Don't say you weren't warned."

***************************************************

Maddie watched Tom and Maverick in deep conversation and sighed to herself.

"Great, Tom's probably scared him off already." She thought to herself. She fastened a bright smile on her face and walked over to where they were talking.

"There you are Captain Mitchell, would you like to join me for lunch?" She smiled at him invitingly.

Maverick threw a triumphant look at Tom and linked his arm through hers, guiding her to a nearby table.

"I must say Maverick, I'm impressed." She told him.

"What do you mean?" He asked her, a little confused.

"Well after Tom's little talk about what a terrible person I am, most guys would have turned on their heels and run as far and as fast as possible."

She searched his face for a reaction. "But you're still here. Very impressive."

"One thing you are going to learn about me, Madison, is that I don't make a habit of listening to anyone else's opinions." He reassured her. " I trust my own judgment."

" And what is your judgment telling you so far?" She asked him, smiling suggestively.

"That if you don't stop looking at me like that, I may have to spirit you away right now and have my wicked way with you."

His eyes were fastened to her face, looking for her reaction. Maddie felt her cheeks flush. This guy was really having an effect on her.

"Don't make promises unless you intend to keep them Captain." She answered flirtatiously.

"Oh I intend to keep them Ms Harris, you just say when." He looked at her intensely.

"Now I think we'd better get some lunch before I lose all self control."

"Chicken." She smiled at him cheekily and quickly rose from her chair, heading towards the food before he could react to her comment.

***************************************************************

Ashley was heaven, relishing the feel of Lee's strong arms around her, and hadn't even realized that he was asking her something

until he pulled away a little and repeated himself.

" As much as I'm enjoying this, the band is about to break for lunch." He smiled down at her. "Are you hungry, would you like to get something to eat?"

" Yes, sure, that sounds great." Ashley stammered, a little embarrassed at having been caught out in dreamland.

He let his arms drop, but grabbed her hand in the process, and led her over to the table where Maverick was sitting,

deep in conversation with his new obsession.

"Hey Mav, don't forget Darry." He reminded his partner as he sat down.

"All taken care of Lee, Karen's got hold of him, poor kid." Maverick grinned at his friend.

"Hey Ashley, how'd you go with the Officer's Wives Club?" He asked her.

"You were right Mav, they've got money to burn." She smiled at him.

"I've already lined up three appointments for next week. But don't worry, I've scheduled them so that they don't clash with the times

I need to be around for Darry." She reassured him.

"That's great news." He congratulated her. " By the way, Ashley, this is Madison Harris, Karen's sister." He introduced the two girls.

"Nice to meet you Ashley." Maddie smiled warmly at her.

"Likewise. "Ashley returned her smile. "It's nice to talk to someone who is not actually married to the navy." She joked.


	8. Chapter 8

The afternoon flashed by quickly. The girls got on famously, and after discovering that they were both at a bit of a loose end,

made plans to get together during the week and do some sight seeing.

Before they knew it, the band was packing up and the afternoon was coming to a close.

Maverick found an exhausted little boy half asleep on one of the lounges inside.

Darry had been running around with the other kids all afternoon, and had hit the wall. Much as he hated to leave, it was time to take the little guy home.

"Oh he is so cute." Maddie exclaimed as Maverick picked him up.

Maverick looked at her in surprise. Most women he'd met weren't all that impressed when they learned that he was a single dad,

but it didn't seem to bother her at all.

"Yeah, cute and exhausted." He said to her with a wry smile. " I'd better take him home."

"I suppose I'd better hang around and help Karen clean up the mess." She smiled at him uncertainly, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"Do you think you'll be able to get away later?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I could always sneak out my bedroom window." She said, laughing. "I used to be pretty good at that when I was younger, just ask Thomas."

"I'll bet you were, you probably gave the poor guy holy hell growing up." He said.

"I may have been somewhat difficult to get along with." She admitted.

"I'll see what I can manage as far as an escape plan is concerned. Which house is yours?"

Maverick gave her directions to the house, then leaned forward and gave her a gentle, lingering kiss goodbye.

"Come on Mitchell, break it up or Tom and Karen will be throwing you out." Lee joked as he walked into the lounge room with Ashley,

his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I'll see you later on." He whispered to her.

"I'll be there." She promised a little breathlessly.

He followed Lee and Ashley out the door, carrying a very drowsy seven-year-old.

Maddie let out a huge sigh and slid down the wall she was leaning against.

How was it that a man she had only just met could have such a devastating impact on her?

She sat on the floor for a moment, regaining her composure before joining Karen and Tom in the kitchen to help tackle cleaning up.

****************************************************

Ashley began feeling more and more apprehensive the closer they got to their house. It had been a magical afternoon. Lee had been so wonderful.

He had barely left her side all afternoon and had been attentive and thoroughly charming, not to mention irresistible.

One look from those green eyes and she was putty in his hands. She really liked him and this was what concerned her.

She was well aware that Lee was something of a ladies man, she had picked that up from some of the conversations that

took place that afternoon with some of his fellow instructors.

The problem she had now was whether to follow what her heart and body were telling her, or did she let her head overrule on this one.

She had already accepted that it would probably be a one-night stand. Would that be enough, could she then continue to live in the same house as him?

All these questions and more were racing around Ashley's head as Lee unlocked the front door and they went inside.

Maverick headed straight upstairs to put Darry to bed, leaving them alone in the lounge room.

Lee pulled her down on the lounge next to him, his arm still wrapped around her.

She sighed and leant back against his toned chest, no closer to a solution to the problem she was facing.

"So, did you enjoy yourself this afternoon?" Lee asked her softly.

"A lot more than I had expected to." She answered him, closing her eyes in pleasure as he trailed his fingers through her long auburn hair.

"That goes double for me," Lee continued. "I don't remember the last time I had so much fun at one of those welcoming BBQ's,

I may have to take you with me every time."

Ashley smiled to herself. He was too smooth for his own good. She stretched and turned in his arms to face him, searching his eyes for any indication of what he was thinking.

He took her completely by surprise by reaching down and kissing her gently.

He smiled at her as he broke away.

"Now that is a very nice way to finish a very enjoyable day." He said huskily.

Gently, he disentangled himself from her and rose from the lounge.

"Goodnight beautiful Ashley." He leant down and gave her another soft, sweet kiss and headed for the stairs and his room.

Ashley couldn't move for quite some time. What had just happened? Did she do something wrong?

She shook her head and went to make herself a cup of coffee, accepting that she would probably never work Lee out, and she would drive herself crazy if she tried.

"It's probably for the best anyway." She muttered to herself, pouring steaming black coffee into her cup.

"What's for the best?" Maverick had walked into the kitchen after settling Darry and had overheard Ashley talking to herself.

"Is there any more of that?" He asked, glancing at her cup of coffee.

"Sure." Ashley said, getting another cup, making one for Maverick.

Maverick took a sip and looked at her over the coffee cup.

"What's on your mind Ashley?" He asked her, his voice a little concerned.

"Your partner." She answered him simply.

"Oh no, what did he do wrong?" Maverick groaned.

"That's the problem Mav, he didn't do anything wrong." Ashley moaned.

"In fact he did everything right, and now I don't have the faintest idea what it is that he wants from me."

Maverick looked at her in surprise. This wasn't like Lee at all. Normally he didn't leave any doubt in a girls mind as to what he wanted from her.

Maverick didn't have any answers for her.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Ashley." He comforted her. "I'm sure he'll let you know what he wants soon enough."

"That's if I haven't gone mad trying to figure it out before he decides to let me know." She smiled ruefully at Maverick.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight Mav, and thanks."

"Anytime, goodnight Ashley." He watched her walk up the stairs.

"I hope that partner of mine knows what he's doing." He thought to himself as he quietly opened the front door and settled himself on the porch to wait for Maddie.


	9. Chapter 9

Maddie glanced at her watch for the third time as she listened with feigned interest to her sister's run down on the gossip she had picked up at the BBQ.

"Somewhere you need to be Maddie?" Tom asked, looking at her with barely disguised amusement.

"I just thought I might go for a walk before turning in." Maddie gave him a warning glance, willing him to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh, I might join you." Karen decided. "I could do with working off some of that cake I ate this afternoon."

Maddie shot a pleading look in Tom's direction.

"I had other plans for working that cake off, honey." He grinned cheekily at his wife, wrapping his arms around her.

He winked at Maddie over Karen's shoulder, his eyes motioning towards the door. She didn't need to be told twice.

Mouthing a silent thanks to Tom she rose from the lounge chair.

"You two kids have fun now." She called as she walked out the door.

***********************************************************

Maverick glanced at his watch. It was nearly eleven. Maybe he should just accept that she wasn't going to show and head inside.

Disappointed, he picked up his empty coffee cup and was just about to open the front door when he heard footsteps on the front path.

He turned quickly to find Maddie in front of him.

"I was just about to give up on you." He told her, smiling.

"Sorry I took so long, I had trouble getting away." She explained. "I was stuck listening to Karen prattle on about…"

Her explanation was cut short as he suddenly pulled her to him, kissing her deeply and passionately.

"God, I have been wanting to do that so badly all afternoon." He breathed when they finally broke apart.

"Maybe we should go inside." She suggested shakily. "That is unless you intend to provide a floorshow for your neighbors entertainment."

She motioned to a curtain that was moving in the downstairs window of the house across the road.

"Well I guess that the whole base is going to know that I kissed my CO's sister-in-law by about nine tomorrow morning." He chuckled,

pulling her inside and closing the door.

"Now Ms Harris, I believe we had a discussion about me keeping promises this afternoon." He smiled at her suggestively.

"And I also believe that you accused me of being chicken."

"That's right, I did too." She grinned at him cheekily. "Are you going to prove me wrong?"

She asked him, trailing gentle kisses across his bare, well-toned chest as she wrapped her arms around him.

He groaned, bending his head to kiss her again. Effortlessly he swept her up into his arms and carried her to his room, kicking the door shut behind them.

***********************************************************

"Tom, I can't find Maddie, and her bed hasn't been slept in." Karen was in a panic.

"I didn't hear her come back from her walk last night. I'm calling base security." She said, dialing a number into the telephone.

Tom shook the fogginess of sleep from his mind and grabbed the receiver from his wife's hand, hanging up the phone.

"What are you doing, she's missing Tom." The pitch in Karen's voice was getting higher the more upset she got.

"She could be hurt or even worse. I knew I should have gone with her." She wailed.

"Karen, honey, calm down." Tom sat her down on the bed. 'I'm pretty sure I know where she is." He told her, dialing a number into the phone.

"Morning Mav, it's Tom." He said into the receiver. "Sorry to wake you at this early hour on a Sunday. Is Maddie with you?"

He listened to the reply and smiled. "Thanks mate, Karen was a bit worried that she didn't come home last night. No problems, bye."

"Where is she Tom?" Karen demanded.

"She's with Maverick." Tom told her. "It seems that they hit it off at the BBQ yesterday and well, you know what pilots are like.

Add your sister to the equation and you come up with one missing houseguest." He tried to make light of the situation.

"I'll kill her." Karen said angrily. "She promised me that she was going to behave herself."

"If I remember that conversation correctly, she actually told you that she couldn't promise anything." He reminded her gently.

"Besides, she could do a lot worse than hooking up with Maverick."

"It's Maverick I'm worried about." Karen stated.

*****************************************************

"Good morning gorgeous." Maverick smiled at Maddie as he watched her stretch sleepily.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked, her voice still groggy from sleep.

"Just your bodyguards, checking in to make sure that you're safe." He joked.

"And what did you tell them?" She asked with interest.

"I told them that I was taking very good care of you." He answered, pulling her to him.

He intended to show her just how well he was going to take care of her.


	10. Chapter 10

Early Sunday morning found Lee standing in the kitchen, staring out the window, having completely forgotten the cup of coffee he had made for himself.

He had slept fitfully, when he was finally able to sleep. He couldn't get Ashley out of his mind.

Maybe he should have just taken her to bed instead of slowing things down as he had the night before.

He had spent most of the night trying to figure out why he had acted the way he had. It was only just beginning to occur to him that this girl was different.

He didn't want her to be just another one-night stand, not just another physical encounter that he could forget about the next morning.

He enjoyed her company, liked just being with her, liked her. The realization hit him heavily, as though someone had punched him.

He really liked her. This was a whole new emotion for Lee, he had never been serious about any girl.

He wasn't sure what to do, and was totally lost in his thoughts when Ashley walked into the kitchen, still looking tousled from sleep, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning." She mumbled as she walked past him and reached for the coffee pot.

It was obvious that she had suffered through a sleepless night as well. Was he the cause of that, he wondered to himself?

"Good morning beautiful." He answered, giving her a slow, lazy smile. She avoided his eyes,

grabbed her coffee and headed to the lounge room without saying another word.

******************************************************************

Ashley had barely slept at all that night, and was not in the mood to contend with Lee and his little games.

Somewhere around four in the morning she had made up her mind to treat him as nothing more than a housemate.

She knew it would be difficult as there was no denying the physical attraction between them, but she was not going to become his plaything.

He could go and find himself a bimbo at his beloved club to fill that role, she refused to allow herself to be used for his amusement.

She would concentrate on building her business back up again, and then she would find her own place and try to forget that those gorgeous green eyes had ever existed.

She had come downstairs determined that he wouldn't be able to detract from her resolve, and it had all started unraveling as soon as he smiled at her.

She couldn't get out of the kitchen fast enough.

She sat quietly drinking her coffee, feeling thoroughly miserable when she heard Lee's mobile ring.

A few minutes later, Maverick rushed into the lounge room looking for her.

"Morning Ashley." He greeted her. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Darry for me for a little while?

A couple of our new trainees have managed to land themselves in hot water." He didn't look impressed.

"Sure Mav, I didn't have any plans today anyway." She told him.

He smiled gratefully and headed towards the front door, Lee hot on his heels, leaving her alone in the still quiet house.

**************************************************************

Maddie woke to sunlight streaming in through the window in Maverick's room.

She glanced at the clock. It was eleven in the morning. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept this late.

She rolled over to reach for Maverick, only to find that she was alone in the bed.

A single red rose lay on the pillow beside her with a note explaining that he and Lee had been called in to deal with an emergency

situation with some of their trainees.

She smiled to herself, almost blushing as she remembered their shared passion from the night before and earlier that morning.

She didn't really feel up to facing the inevitable lecture she knew would be waiting for her from Karen,

so she pulled on her jeans and T-Shirt from the night before and went downstairs, hoping that she would find Ashley was still at home.


	11. Chapter 11

Maverick and Lee pulled up outside the local police station and looked at each other with apprehension.

This was the first time that any of their trainees had actually managed to get themselves arrested, so this would be their first experience in dealing with the local law enforcement, and they weren't quite sure what to expect.

They walked through the doors and approached the front desk, where a policewoman was busy with paperwork.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" She asked, glancing up from the report she was working on.

"Captain's Mitchell and Sanders." Maverick began. "We believe that you have some of our trainees in custody.

"Oh, the flyboys." She said, rolling her eyes. "Did you bring a Jag lawyer with you Captain?" She asked.

"Do you think that they'll need one? He's out on ship at the moment." Lee looked at her in surprise.

"Well they did vandalize the Sheriff's house, and he is not the forgiving type." She told them.

"So if you are planning to get your boys out of here any time soon, I would suggest you get yourselves some legal representation quick smart."

She gave them a dismissive look and returned to her report.

"This isn't good Mav." Lee was worried. "These boys are our responsibility. It's not going to look good if they don't show on Monday for classes because they are in jail."

Maverick looked thoughtful for a moment, then he grinned at Lee.

"Maddie's a lawyer from some big swanky law firm in New York. I'm sure she can handle a small town Sheriff." He pulled out his mobile.

"I hope she's still at our place." He said as he dialed the number.

Maddie found Ashley in the lounge room in the middle of a rather rowdy game of snakes and ladders with Darry.

They both looked at her in surprise when she walked in.

"Morning guys." She greeted them cheerfully.

"Where did you come from?" Darry asked her in a direct fashion that only a child could master.

"Darry, don't be rude." Ashley admonished him. "This is Maddie, don't you remember meeting her at the BBQ yesterday?"

"It's ok Ashley, he was pretty tired when we were introduced." Maddie smiled at him.

"And in answer to your question, young man, I came through that doorway there."

Darry seemed satisfied with her answer and turned back to the board game.

The dice landed on a six and he crowed triumphantly as he moved his player's piece onto the finish square.

He did a little victory dance and then took off into the kitchen in search of food.

"I swear that kid is always hungry." Ashley laughed, packing away the board game and getting to her feet.

"Fancy a cup of coffee?" She asked Maddie.

"I would kill for one." Maddie answered gratefully, following her into the kitchen.

Ashley poured them both a cup and they sat down at the kitchen table.

"Well it looks like I have been well and truly deserted." Maddie commented, noticing that Maverick was still nowhere to be seen.

"There was some trouble with their trainees." Ashley told her. "He and Lee have gone to try and sort it out."

"Yeah, he left me a note about that. I don't really know whether to hang around and wait for him to get back, or head back to my sister's place." She said thoughtfully.

"It's a beautiful day, we could always take Darry to the beach." Ashley suggested.

"Now that sounds like a great idea." Maddie agreed. "I'll have to go home and change, but I should be able to avoid the firing squad."

She grinned, imagining the expression on Karen's face when she walked in.

"I'll finish this coffee and go grab my stuff, I should only be fifteen minutes or so." She told Ashley, draining her cup and rinsing it in the sink.

"See you soon, I'll get Darry ready." Ashley headed into the back yard in search of her charge.

Maddie opened the door to her sister's place with trepidation. She knew that Karen was not going to be happy with her.

The house was quiet, and she didn't hear Karen or Tom talking. Maybe they had gone out, she could only hope.

She ran up the stairs to the guest bedroom and opened the door, only to find her sister sitting on the bed waiting for her.

"About time you decided to come home." Karen said to her, a stern look on her face.

"Karen, I'm twenty eight years old, I hardly need you to chaperone me." Maddie answered quickly.

"Didn't I ask you to behave yourself?" Karen gave her sister a disappointed look.

"And did it ever occur to you that I might actually like this guy?" Maddie countered, surprising herself with the realization that she really did like Maverick.

"I'm not going to argue with you over this Karen." She continued. "I like Maverick and I'm going to continue seeing him if that's what he wants."

She glared at her sister defiantly, almost daring her to argue.

Karen took in the expression on her sister's face with some surprise. Maybe this time it would be different.

"Ok Maddie, if that's what you want." She sighed.

"Just do us the courtesy of letting us know where you are. I almost called base security on you this morning, I was that worried when you didn't come home."

Maddie's expression softened a little as she realized that her sister had been genuinely worried about her.

She had gotten used to doing her own thing and not having to answer to anyone.

"Alright Karen, I'm sorry I gave you a fright. If I'm not coming home, I promise I'll call and let you know." She conceded, giving her sister a gentle smile.

"Friends?" She held out her arms for a hug.

"Friends." Karen agreed, holding her younger sister tightly. "And for the record, I hope things work out with Maverick. He's a great guy."

"I hope so too. I'm off to the beach with Ashley now, you're welcome to join us if you want." Maddie offered.

"No thanks, Tom and I have afternoon tea with Admiral Taylor and his wife. Maybe next time." Karen replied. "I'll see you later on, will you be in for dinner?"

"I'm not sure yet, I'll call and let you know." Maddie told her as she walked out of the room.

Maddie let out a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she had expected.

She rifled through her suitcase and pulled out a black bikini and beach towel, as well as a sapphire blue sarong, and started getting changed.

Ashley and Darry were waiting in the kitchen for Maddie to get back when the phone rang. Darry ran to pick it up.

"Oh hi Dad, Ashley and Maddie are taking me to the beach." He informed his father.

He was quiet for a moment, listening to what his father was telling him.

"No, she's not here right now, she went home to get changed. She'll be back real soon." He answered the question he had been asked, and then took the phone in to Ashley.

"Hi Mav, what's up?" Ashley asked him.

"Hi Ashley, we've got a bit of a situation here and I need Maddie's help." He told her.

"Well, she should be back any minute, hang on, here she is now." Ashley handed Maddie the phone when she walked into the kitchen, telling her it was Maverick.

"Hi handsome, missing me already?" She teased him as she answered the phone.

"You bet I am." He replied, and quickly continued. "Honey, I really need your help.

These boys have gotten themselves into a pile of trouble, and if I don't convince the sheriff to let them go soon, they are going to be on the next transport to the County Jail."

"That doesn't sound good, what on earth have they done?" Maddie asked him.

"I don't really have time to go into all the details." He told her. "I know you're on holidays, but the base Jag lawyer is out on ship and I really need some help down here.

If they end up at County, it'll make the papers for sure and then there'll be hell to pay because they are mine and Lee's responsibility." He sounded upset.

"No problems, I'll just get changed and I'll be right there." Maddie's professional tone took over as she realized the seriousness of the situation.

"The transport is due in half an hour, I don't think you'll have time to get changed." He told her.

"Ok, I'll leave right now, but I'm warning you, I don't know what the sheriff's going to think of a lawyer in a bikini and a sarong." She told him.

"I'll see you soon babe, try not to worry too much." She tried to comfort him as she hung up the phone.

"I've got to go and rescue some pilots in distress." She grinned at Ashley. "You want to come along?"

"As if I'm going to miss this." Ashley was already picking up her bag and keys. "We can head to the beach after you've busted them out of jail."

All three of them piled into Ashley's car and high tailed it to the local police station.


	12. Chapter 12

The boys were waiting for them on the sidewalk when they pulled into the kerb.

Maverick let out a low whistle when Maddie stepped out of the car, Ashley and Darry following close behind her.

"Told you I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion." She gave him an inviting smile.

"You look just fine to me." His eyes indicated that he liked what he saw.

"Behave yourself Captain." She admonished him. "Now, point me towards the sheriff so I can work my magic."

The young policewoman could barely disguise her amusement as she took in the ragtag group that walked through the door.

"This is your legal representation?" She gave the boys an incredulous look. "I wouldn't want to be in your trainee's shoes right now."

"If it isn't too much trouble, could you please let the sheriff know that Madison Harris from Mason, Schubert and Harris is here to see him."

Maddie gave the young constable a withering look as she handed over her business card.

"Oh of course, I'm sorry Ms Harris, I won't keep you a moment." The young police woman stammered, recognizing the name of the company immediately.

Maddie's firm handled a lot of high profile cases and they were frequently in the news. She scurried away to see the sheriff. Maddie shot a confident smile at the boys.

"Wow, she got further with one sentence than we got in the whole time we've been here." Lee was impressed.

"Remind me to call Maddie if I ever get arrested." Ashley whispered jokingly.

"Ms Harris, what on earth would bring a high profile New York lawyer to our little corner of the earth?" The sheriff asked as he greeted Maddie, holding out his hand.

"Sheriff Wayne Perkins at your service ma'am"

Maddie took his hand and smiled. "Sheriff Perkins, so nice to meet you." She said smoothly.

"I apologize for not scheduling an appointment and for my inappropriate attire.

I am on holidays and have received an unexpected call regarding some clients of mine that seem to have landed themselves in some trouble."

Lee, Ashley and Maverick all looked at each other, this girl was good.

"No problem at all Ms Harris, why don't you come through to my office and we can talk." The sheriff offered, openly admiring the attractive woman in front of him.

"That would be wonderful, thank you sheriff." Maddie gave him a warm smile. "And please, call me Maddie." Her voice trailed off as they disappeared out of sight.

They had been gone for about fifteen minutes and Maverick and Lee were watching the clock anxiously as the time for the arrival of the transport rapidly approached.

They heard laughter coming from the other side of the desk, and saw Maddie and the sheriff approaching.

"Wayne, thank you so much for being so understanding." She was saying to him.

"I suppose boys will be boys." The sheriff conceded, smiling warmly at her.

"I will make sure that you have the letter of apology tomorrow, and you just let me know when you get the new letterbox in,

and I'll make sure that you are reimbursed and that there are a certain four strapping young lieutenants on your doorstep, ready to install it." She assured him.

"Oh and Wayne, I'm sure that the Captains here will make sure that there won't be any more trouble." She nodded in Maverick and Lee's direction.

"We will make sure that they don't put another foot out of line sheriff." Maverick said gratefully as he watched four very sheepish trainees file out of the cells.

"Ma'am, how can we thank you?" One of the trainees who went by the call sign Bear asked Maddie gratefully when they were outside the police station.

"No need to thank me boys, I was happy to help." She smiled at them.

"You can do your Co's a favour though and stay out of trouble for the rest of your time here." She rested her hand on Maverick's arm as she turned to him.

"Now handsome, if it's ok with you, Ashley and I have a date with your son. We promised to take him to the beach." She ruffled Darry's hair with her free hand.

"Have I told you yet just how incredible you are?" His eyes glowed as he pulled her in close.

"Not since earlier this morning." She joked. "Are you going to join us at the beach?"

"Lee and I still have to have a little discussion with this lot." He nodded his head towards the hapless group of trainees. "I'll call you when we're done and see where you are."

"Don't be too hard on them Mav, it wasn't that long ago that you were a trainee yourself." She leant in and gave him a gentle kiss. "I'll see you soon."

Lee had been watching Ashley closely while Maddie and Maverick talked.

She still wouldn't look at him, and was standing as far away from him as possible. I think she's avoiding me, he thought to himself.

He would have to do something about that. He walked over to her and stood close behind her.

Every nerve in Ashley's body screamed as she realized that he was standing right behind her.

"What do you want Lee?" She asked him coolly.

"Something like that would be nice." He said, watching the little exchange between his partner and his new girl. Ashley turned, smiling sweetly at him, and leant in nice and close.

"In your dreams Captain." She whispered in his ear. "You had your chance and you blew it." She stepped away from him.

"You ready Maddie, or are we going to stand on the sidewalk all day." She asked a little impatiently.

"Yeap, let's hit the beach. What do you think kiddo?" She asked Darry.

"Well it's about time, I was getting bored." They all laughed at this little outburst, and went their separate ways.

Lee stood quietly on the sidewalk, watching the car drive away. He had fought the urge to go after her, realizing that she didn't intend to make this easy for him.

"What's wrong mate, Ashley steal your lollipop did she?" His partners voice jolted him away from his thoughts.

Maverick had noticed what had just taken place between them. This one is going to give Lee a run for his money, he thought to himself,

amused at the idea of a girl having the upper hand over his partner.

"Don't have a clue what you're talking about Mav." Lee dismissed the comment. "Now let's get this lot back to base and give them a lecture they're not going to forget in a hurry."

Maverick chuckled to himself. Ashley has definitely gotten under his skin, Lee never changed the subject like that.

The girls drove around and around the block, trying to find a parking spot that wasn't a mile away from the main beach in Oceanside.

"This is hopeless." Ashley sighed in frustration. "Even if we do get a parking spot, we'll probably have to fight somebody for room on the beach."

"Surely this can't be the only beach around here." Maddie commented. "Maybe we should try following the coast road and see what we can find." She suggested.

"Good idea, I don't know about you guys, but I think it's too hot to be imitating a sardine today."

Ashley joked as she turned the car back onto the coast road and headed out of the main center of Oceanside.

They had been driving about fifteen minutes when they came around a bend in the road and saw a deserted stretch of sand below.

"Now that looks perfect." They both exclaimed at the same time.

Ashley turned into the street that looked as if it would be the closest to the beachfront and parked the car opposite a path that went between two houses.

They grabbed their bags and towels and headed for the path, each of them holding one of Darry's hands.

The path led to some stone steps that had been cut into the cliff face to allow access to the beach.

It brought them out onto the rocks at the far end of a small stretch of sand. It looked like they had the whole beach to themselves.

Darry let out a happy yell and took off running across the sand towards the water.

"I hope he can swim." Ashley looked at Maddie in alarm and they both took off running after him.


	13. Chapter 13

Maddie watched as Ashley and Darry began construction on what was going to be an enormous sandcastle.

They had all been for a swim, and were now relaxing on the sand. She stood up, brushing off sand and told Ashley she was going for a walk.

The sea breeze was deliciously refreshing on her face as she walked along the sand.

New York seemed like a distant memory as she took in the sparkling water and she began to wonder whether she would be able to handle going back there.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a sign on the fence of one of the cliff top houses. Curious, she walked closer to the cliff face.

It was a For Sale sign. Tattered and flapping in the breeze where it had pulled loose from the fence, the sign looked like it had been there for a long time.

A set of stairs cut into the cliff face led to a back gate that was overgrown with vines. Maddie felt compelled to take a closer look, and climbed the stone stairs.

She pushed gently on the gate and it swung open, barely attached to its rusted hinges.

The scene before her would probably be enough to turn away even the most seasoned house hunter.

Bits of outdoor furniture were scattered across the yard, lying amongst piles of leaves that had accumulated over a number of seasons.

The windows in the pool house had all been broken, and there were smashed beer bottles scattered all over the place.

Obviously the local teenagers had been using this place as a hang out.

The house was a large, two story bungalow that looked as though it had seen better days.

The storm shutters were hanging loose at the windows and the exterior was in desperate need of a good coat of paint. Who knows what sort of state the inside was in.

Maddie didn't care.

She loved it.

Sure, it would take a lot of work to bring it back to its former glory, but she could see the potential underneath the decay.

She imagined lazy afternoons by the pool, and warm summer evenings listening to the waves crash on the beach below.

This was somewhere she could actually see herself calling home.

She couldn't deny that her apartment in New York was beautiful, and it did have a spectacular view of the skyline, but she had never really felt as though she belonged there.

It was too perfect, cold and a little bit sterile. Her friend Samantha, a wealthy New York Socialite, had helped her choose the apartment and also overseen the decorating,

so it was something of a showpiece.

Sam would be horrified if she knew what I was considering, Maddie thought, as she took note of the name of the Real Estate Agent.

She intended to call them first thing Monday morning to organize an inspection. Reluctantly, she turned away from the house and headed back down to the beach to join the others.

Ashley and Darry were starting to pack up when Maddie returned. The afternoon sea breeze had really picked up and the sand was blowing everywhere.

"How was your walk?" Ashley asked as she shook the sand out of a towel. "See anything interesting?"

"Maybe." Maddie answered cryptically as she helped grab the toys Darry had brought with him.

As they were walking back down the beach towards the car, Maddie's mobile phone rang. She smiled as she went to answer it, knowing it would be Maverick.

"You're too late handsome, we just packed up." She answered her phone glibly.

"Damn, and we just got changed and grabbed our towels too." Maverick sounded disappointed.

"The wind has picked up sharply, so it's not very pleasant here now." Maddie told him.

"I tell you what, why don't you jump in the car and meet us in town for an ice cream instead." She suggested.

"Sounds good." He agreed. "We'll meet you outside the shop."

"Looks like we're going for ice cream." Maddie told the others, and Darry cheered.

Ashley was quiet as they opened up the car. Maddie gave her a sideways glance when she climbed into the passenger seat next to her.

"Is everything ok Ashley?" She asked, feeling a little concerned.

"It's just that I'm not sure that I want to be included in a cozy little foursome." She told Maddie through clenched teeth.

"But I thought you and Lee were tight." Maddie was confused. "You certainly looked that way at the BBQ, he barely left your side all day."

"Yes, he gave the impression of being interested, didn't he?" Ashley answered, her voice betraying the frustration she was feeling.

"And then when it counted, when we were alone, well let's just say that he didn't seem to have too much trouble distancing himself.

I'm beginning to wonder if it was all for appearances at the BBQ yesterday, you know, it probably looks better for the good captain to have a date for one of these things."

Maddie could sense that Ashley had been holding all this back, and now her temper was rising, so she sat quietly beside her and let her continue.

"Then, this morning, he's back to playing games again. I can't take this hot and cold treatment Maddie, I'm not going to be used as a plaything whenever it takes his fancy."

She felt her face heating as she poured out all her confusion to her new friend.

"Feel better?" Maddie asked her, watching her carefully.

"Much." Ashley answered with a wry smile. "Sorry about that, you probably didn't want to know about my problems, I just couldn't hold it in any longer."

"I don't really know Lee, so I can't comment on what he's doing." Maddie told her.

"But if I was in your position, I certainly wouldn't allow him to interfere with you enjoying yourself. If you want to join us for ice cream, then just do it.

Don't let the thought of Lee being there stop you doing something you want to."

"You've got to come Ashley." A little voice piped up in the back seat. "It won't be as much fun without you."

The girls had completely forgotten that Darry was in the back seat.

"I think I'd better be more careful what I say." Ashley grinned at Maddie, and glanced at Darry in the rear vision mirror.

"I tell you what kiddo, I'll come for ice cream if you promise never to repeat anything you just heard me say to Lee or to your dad."

"I won't say a word." Darry promised. "I think Uncle Lee is stupid, you're heaps prettier and smarter and lots more fun than any other girl he's ever been out with.

When I grow up, I hope I can get a girlfriend just like you Ashley."

For reasons Ashley couldn't understand, Darry's innocent comment brought tears to her eyes.

They were only minutes from town when Maddie's mobile rang again. She smiled to herself as she answered it.

"We're almost there handsome, keep your shirt on." She quipped. "Then again, on second thoughts, maybe you should take it off."

"And here I was thinking that I would have to rescue you from death by boredom out in the boondocks." The cultured voice on the other end sounded amused.

"It sounds like you've found yourself a diversion."

"Sam!!! It's so good to hear from you." Maddie said with delight.

"So, who is he? Is he cute? Does he have a friend for me?" Sam bombarded her with questions.

"Like you need any help finding yourself a man to play with." Maddie laughed at her friend.

"The answers to your questions are, he's a navy fighter pilot, he's very cute and he has lots of friends."

"I'm booking my plane ticket now." Sam joked. "Where are you again?"

"Miramar Naval Air Base, otherwise known as Top Gun." She told her.

Ashley pulled the car over into a parking spot not far from the Ice Cream Parlor and they all got out of the car.

"Sam, honey, I'm going to have to go." Maddie told her friend. "I'll call you tonight and catch you up on all the gossip."

"You'd better." Sam warned her. "I'm dying to hear more about this cute pilot."

Maddie ended the call and put her phone into her bag.


	14. Chapter 14

Maverick and Lee were sitting at a table outside the Ice Cream Parlor waiting for the girls and Darry to arrive.

They had read the riot act to their wayward trainees and had ordered them not to leave the base for the rest of the weekend.

After putting the fear of God into them, they didn't expect any more trouble, and had headed straight into town.

Lee had been unusually quiet on the way, and Maverick knew him well enough to know that he should leave him to his thoughts.

His partner didn't usually let anything get to him, but on the rare occasion that he was troubled by something, Maverick had learnt that it was best to stay right out of it.

Lee would talk it over with him when he was ready.

The situation that he found himself in was a whole new experience for Lee. He was still tingling from the anticipation he had felt when he thought that Ashley was going to kiss him.

He had been attracted to women before, but this was completely different.

And now she had told him that he had blown his chances with her and he had no idea what he was going to do about it.

He was sure that she felt the same attraction to him as he did to her. Her body gave her away anytime he was close to her, so why would she be fighting it?

Lee was lost for an answer. For the first time ever, he was not the one who was in control and he didn't like it one little bit.

Maverick felt his heart skip a beat as he watched Maddie approaching, smiling at him as if they were the only two people in the world.

He knew he was in serious trouble. He had only known this girl for twenty-four hours and despite Tom's warning, he knew he had fallen hopelessly in love.

He knew it was going to kill him when she had to go back to New York, but he would deal with that when it happened.

In the mean time, he was happy to enjoy whatever she was willing to give him.

Maddie glanced at Ashley as they neared the boys.

"Are you ok with this?" She asked her, concern showing in her voice.

"I'll be fine." Ashley said, a determined look settling on her face. "You are absolutely right, Maddie, I shouldn't let Lee get in the way of enjoying myself and I'm not going to."

She shot her new friend a confident smile, trying to convince herself that she could be as strong inside as she was being on the outside.

Maddie smiled to herself. She didn't believe Ashley for one minute.

It was impossible not to notice the tension that had been building between Lee and Ashley, and she was pretty sure that there would be fireworks some time soon.

Maverick pulled her down onto his lap as she reached his side, giving her a kiss that made her forget all about anyone else's problems.

She was still overwhelmed by the hold he had over her.

Maddie had dated a lot of men, but none of them had made her feel the way Maverick was able to.

She returned his kiss with passion, before pulling back so as not to make the others feel uncomfortable.

She moved from his lap and sat in the chair next to him so that Darry could get to his father. Maverick lifted his son onto his lap and ruffled his hair.

"How was the beach, kiddo?" He asked, smiling at Darry affectionately.

"It was great, Dad." Darry answered enthusiastically. "Ashley is a champion sand castle builder, and we found this really cool beach that's just out of town,

so it wasn't crowded, and the water was really warm and clear and it was so much fun."

Darry didn't draw a breath as he told his dad about the fun afternoon they had just had.

Ashley deliberately chose to sit herself in the chair that was the furthest from where Lee was sitting and turned to Maverick.

"So Mav, are the trainees ears still ringing, or will they need to sit on pillows for the next week?" She asked him,

grinning at the picture that was forming in her mind of Maverick and Lee making the trainees line up for a good kick in the backside.

"Nah, we weren't too tough on them." Maverick replied. "Like a certain hotshot lawyer pointed out to me, it wasn't all that long ago that we were pulling stunts like that, was it Lee?"

" We weren't stupid enough to get caught though." Lee answered, smiling as he remembered some of the stunts he and Mav had pulled during their stint as Top Gun trainees.

They scanned the choice of Ice Cream flavors available and put in their order.

The afternoon sun was pleasantly warm and they had fun watching the people walk by on the boardwalk, playing a game with Darry of inventing lives for them all.

The Ice Cream arrived and they all tucked in. Ashley finished hers first and promptly tried to distract everyone else so that she could steal some of theirs.

She had relaxed a little and even allowed herself to joke around with Lee.

She was considering the fact that perhaps she had read too much into his attentions the day before and had over reacted to the situation.

I have to live with these guys, she thought to herself, so it would be better for everyone if they all got along.

If that meant putting her feelings aside for the sake of harmony, then she was willing to do that.

Enjoying the last rays of the sun, Maverick glanced at his watch and sighed.

"I guess we'd better be heading home and do some preparation for classes tomorrow." He laughed as Lee pulled a face at him.

"Yeah, I suppose we'd better at least read the personnel files so we know a little bit about who we are going to be teaching." Lee agreed reluctantly.

"Gosh, that sounds like so much fun, doesn't it Ashley?" Maddie teased them.

"I can hardly contain myself, it sounds so exciting." Ashley joined Maddie in torturing the guys.

"What do you say we take Darry out somewhere for dinner and let these two get on with preparing their lessons." She suggested.

"Sounds like a better option than sitting around the house listening to them complain." Maddie grinned. That little comment earned her a poke in the side from Maverick.

Ashley stood up and picked up her bag.

"Come on Maddie, I'll drop you back at your sister's place so you can get changed." She offered. "Darry, do you want to get a ride home with your dad?"

"Sure, where are we going for dinner?" The little guy asked. "Can we go to McDonalds?" This question earned a resounding no from both the girls.

Maddie gave Ashley a brief wave as she walked up the path to her sister's house.

They had arranged to meet at Ashley's place in an hour and they would decide from there where to go for dinner.

"Karen, I'm back." Maddie sang out as she opened the front door. The house was still deserted. She assumed that Tom and Karen must still be at the Admirals function.

She went upstairs, took a quick shower and changed into a white sundress with thin shoulder straps that was perfect for a summer evening.

While she was brushing her hair, she pulled out her phone and dialed Sam's number.

"It's about time." Came the impatient answer on the other end of the line.

"I was too busy having fun." Maddie informed her. "Don't tell me you've been hanging by a thread all afternoon waiting for my phone call.

I think I know you a bit better than that, Sam."

"Alright, OK, I admit it." Sam laughed. "I had a massage and a facial, but I was thinking about you. Come on, spill. Just how gorgeous is he?"

"What can I say?" Maddie sighed as she tried to explain her attraction to Maverick to her friend. "He's handsome, he's exciting, smart and fun. Oh and he has a killer body too."

"Sounds too good to be true." Sam said a little sarcastically. "What about Alex? Have you just forgotten all about him?" She asked her friend.

"Alex and I broke up over six months ago Sam." Maddie was a little surprised that Sam would bring up the subject of her ex boyfriend.

Alex Mendosa was a Pro Baseball player, a star pitcher with the New York Yankees.

They had dated for a little over a year before Maddie decided that he was far too in love with himself to have room for genuine feelings for anyone else, so she had ended it.

She was tired of being constantly in the media spotlight every time they went anywhere, not to mention having to contend with all the groupies that famous sportsmen

inevitably attract. Yes, he was handsome, with his dark Latino good looks, and a lot of fun, but Maddie needed more.

Her feelings just didn't run deep enough for her to justify the hassle she had to go through to be with him.

"I know, but you know how heartbroken he was when you called it off." Sam told her.

"He came to see me a couple of days ago, wanting to know if I thought you would consider a reconciliation."

"Sam, you know that I wasn't happy when I was with Alex." Maddie was starting to get annoyed.

"Maverick has made me happier in the short time I've known him than Alex did in the entire year we were together." There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

"Maddie, you haven't broken the rules have you?" Sam asked cautiously.

"And which rule are we talking about this time?" Maddie asked.

"You should know sweetie, you helped write them." Sam told her. "You know, the rule where you're not allowed to fall for the holiday fling guy."

Maddie couldn't answer her. Maybe she was falling for Maverick.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." Sam continued. " The sooner we get you out of there and back to reality the better from the sound of it.

Now, what time are you flying in on Thursday? Do you want me to send a car for you?" Sam was used to organizing Maddie's life for her.

"Well, actually Sam." Maddie began cautiously. "I still have another three weeks of leave, and I was thinking of extending my stay here."

She paused, waiting for Sam's reaction to this news. To her surprise, her friend was quite calm.

"If that's what you want to do, then have fun." Sam told her cheerfully. "Just don't forget where you come from."

They chatted for another ten minutes and said their goodbyes.

That was easy, Maddie thought to herself. She had expected Sam to put up more resistance at Maddie's plan to stay in Miramar longer.

She left a note for her sister letting her know that she wouldn't be home that night, and locked the door behind her.

In her New York penthouse, Sam was deep in thought as she replaced the receiver. Maddie's tone of voice really had her concerned.

She picked up the phone and dialed her personal assistant's number.

"Hi Susan, it's Sam." She said. "Could you please book me onto a flight to San Diego on Friday. Thanks sweetie."

If her friend was actually considering giving up on her life in New York as she suspected was the case, Sam was going to make damned sure that this guy was worth it.


	15. Chapter 15

The girls took Darry to the local pizza and pasta restaurant for dinner, leaving the boys grumbling about work interfering with their social lives.

It was still early when they finished dinner, so they decided to treat Darry to the latest kids movie that was showing at the cinema.

It was about 9.30 by the time they got back to the boys place, and Darry was fast asleep in the back of the car.

Ashley locked the car up while Maddie gently carried Darry inside.

She stopped at the lounge room door and laughed quietly at the scene before her.

Lee was fast asleep, stretched out on the couch with a trainee's portfolio covering his face.

Maverick was asleep on his stomach on the floor, surrounded by paperwork and one hand stretched out clasping a model airplane.

Maddie held a finger to her lips as Ashley walked through the door, pointing at the sleeping pilots.

"Oh, aren't they cute?" Ashley whispered, grinning at Maddie.

"Adorable." Maddie agreed. "I'll just put this little guy to bed and I'll join you for a coffee." Maddie headed for the stairs, Darry still asleep in her arms.

Ashley stood in the doorway, watching the boys sleeping. She grinned to herself as a wicked thought entered her mind.

She went into the laundry where Darry kept a lot of his outside toys. She retrieved two water pistols from the basket and filled them up at the sink,

then waited for Maddie to come back downstairs.

"Want to see how high we can make a pilot jump?" she asked Maddie as she walked into the hallway. Maddie laughed quietly and took one of the water pistols.

They tiptoed into the lounge room. Ashley took up a position behind the lounge and gently lifted the files from Lee's face, careful not to disturb him.

Maddie crouched on the floor in direct line with Mavericks face. Ashley did a silent countdown with her fingers and the girls let out a yell and opened fire.

Lee fell of the lounge with a thump, shaking his head and wondering what was going on. Ashley kept on spraying him mercilessly, hardly able to stand she was laughing so much.

Lee got to his feet and she took off running, turning to spray him every few metres as they ran into the back yard.

Maverick rolled onto his back, wiping the water away from his face as the fogginess of sleep slowly lifted.

Maddie made the most of his confused state and sat down on his chest, effectively pinning his arms so that he couldn't defend himself, and continued the onslaught.

Ashley headed straight for the large oak tree in the backyard, intending to use it as a cover for firing at Lee.

She turned to check his position and realized that he wasn't right behind her any more. She scanned the yard, looking for where he had gone.

Surely he couldn't have given up that easily, she thought to herself. It was dark in the yard, and she couldn't see that far in front of her.

She couldn't see him anywhere, so she shrugged and started to head back towards the house.

Too late, her eyes rested on Lee's hiding position as he stepped out from the side of the house, armed with the garden hose.

He turned the nozzle to full force and let her have it. Ashley was saturated from head to toe before she even had time to react.

Lee could barely stand, he was laughing that much at the indignant look on Ashley's face.

"Lee!!!!!!" Ashley cried. "How could you, I'm all soaked."

"Play water games with the big boys sweetheart and you are bound to get wet." Lee grinned at her cheekily as he closed off the nozzle of the hose,

satisfied that he had won this little battle.

"Well the least you could do is go inside and get me a towel." Ashley demanded, hands on her hips, trying her best not to shiver and give him the satisfaction of

knowing that she was actually cold.

"I don't know, you look just fine to me." He said, his eyes showing his appreciation of the now soaked T-Shirt that was clinging to Ashley, showing off curves in all the right places.

"Lee" She raised her voice, her tone getting dangerous. Her eyes flashed as her temper simmered just below the surface "Get me a towel."

"Spoil Sport." Lee turned and went back into the laundry in search of a towel for Ashley to dry off with,

thinking to himself that she was even more gorgeous when her temper was fired up. He'd have to remember that.

He found a clean towel in the linen press, grabbed it and headed back outside, only to be greeted with a blast of water straight in his face.

While he had been gone, Ashley had commandeered the hose and had it trained straight at the back steps, ready to attack as soon as Lee came back outside.

"Now who's getting wet, big boy?" She was laughing so much, her sides hurt.

Lee threw his hands up in the air, completely saturated.

"Ok, ok, I surrender." He pleaded. "God that water's cold."

Ashley shut the hose off and put it down. She walked past Lee on the steps, brushing against him as she passed him, then she broke into a run.

"Race you to the shower." She yelled over her shoulder. Lee sighed, knowing that he would never catch her with that sort of a head start.

This girl sure knew how to keep him on his toes.

Maverick shifted sideways suddenly under Maddie, throwing her off balance and sending her tumbling to the floor, losing her grip on her water pistol.

With lightning reflexes, Maverick grabbed the toy, leapt to his feet and aimed it straight at her.

"Now Ms Harris, how are you going to get yourself out of this one." He smiled at her, giving the trigger a squeeze.

Maddie squealed as the water hit her right in the middle of the chest, trickling down her cleavage.

"Like this!!!" She exclaimed, diving around him, crawling behind the lounge for cover, and making a dash for the doorway and stairs.

Maverick jumped over the lounge and was hot on her heels, chasing her up the stairs, pumping the water pistol with no mercy.

She headed straight for his room and jumped into the middle of the bed.

"Ok Mav, if you want to wet me, you go right ahead." She grinned triumphantly. "Just remember that you have to sleep here tonight."

She pulled the sheets and blankets tightly around her for protection.

Maverick threw the water pistol to one side and tackled her on the bed, pinning her underneath him. He lowered his mouth to within centimeters of hers.

She felt her breath quicken and her skin tingled at his touch.

"I've got a much better idea." He whispered, capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss, the water pistol war all but forgotten.


	16. Chapter 16

Leaning against the kitchen bench, Maddie listened to the hold music while she waited for the real estate agent to take her call.

Maverick and Lee had left early that morning, wanting to get a head start on the day as this was the beginning of classes for the new group of trainees.

The agent answered and she arranged a time to inspect the house on the cliff in Oceanside. She scribbled down the agent's name and time, pouring herself another coffee with the phone tucked under her chin. She ended the call and smiled to herself. She couldn't believe how much had changed in her life in such a short amount of time.

She had all but decided that she wouldn't be going back to New York. Yes, she would miss the friends she had made there, but she realized earlier that morning as she watched Maverick sleep that there was so much more to life than a high flying career and a ritzy lifestyle.

She allowed herself to admit what she had known almost from the moment she met him. She was in love, hopelessly in love. Maddie couldn't envision a life that didn't include Maverick. Sam would be disgusted, she thought, laughing quietly.

"Care to share the joke?" Ashley asked, walking through the door after dropping Darry off at school for the day.

"Nothing important." Maddie smiled at her. "What are your plans for today?"

"Not much really." Ashley told her. "I've got an appointment with the Admiral's wife at 10 tomorrow, but today I'm free, well at least until school comes out."

"Good, I'd like to get your professional opinion on something." Maddie told her.

"I'm intrigued." Ashley replied, wondering what her friend could possibly be talking about.

"Come on, the appointment's in half and hour, we'd better hustle." Maddie grabbed her bag. "I'll drive, we'll get there quicker in my car."

Ashley followed her, locking the door behind her, a puzzled expression on her face.

They walked the short distance to Tom and Karen's house and Maddie unlocked the doors of a gorgeous black Porsche 911.

"I see what you mean by getting there quicker." Ashley was impressed.

"One of the perks of working for a prestigious law firm." Maddie told her. "This is my baby, probably not the most practical car, but I love it anyway."

"I can see why." Ashley admired the luxurious interior as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Does Mav know you own this?" She asked.

"Are you kidding?" Maddie laughed. "I'll probably never get to drive it again when he finds out." She gunned the engine, and backed out of the driveway.

"So, where exactly is it that we're going?" Ashley asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"We are going to look at a house." Maddie informed her. Ashley looked at her in surprise.

"I didn't know you were planning to stick around." She commented. "So when did you see this place?"

"Yesterday, when I went for a walk along the beach." Maddie smiled at her friend. "I'll warn you now, it's a bit of a fixer upper. That's why I want your opinion, to see if you think it's worth the investment."

The girls turned into the long driveway that led from the quiet cliff top road down to the house.

The gardens were overgrown and the driveway was covered in rubble and weeds. They parked the car in what had once been a circular turn at the end of the drive, but the lawns had overtaken the concrete.

"I see what you mean by a fixer upper." Ashley eyed the old house dubiously.

"Yeah, it'll be a lot of hard work, but you've got to agree that it's got character." Maddie's eyes glowed with excitement as she poked around the front of the house, waiting for realtor.

Ashley examined what she could see of the foundations and found that they were in surprisingly good condition for a house of this vintage.

Whoever had built it had made it to last, she thought to herself. The weatherboard on the outside of the house had been ravaged by time and the elements.

There were only a few remnants of peeling paint left, but it still seemed solid. She would be able to tell more once she got inside, but she was already impressed with what she saw.

The designer in her kicked in and she started to get excited about the possibilities this house was already presenting.

Another car came up the driveway, and parked next to Maddie's. The realtor jumped out of the driver's seat, eyes aglow with the prospect of a wealthy client.

He hadn't missed the Porsche, and knew that Ms Harris was a lawyer from New York. He could almost taste the commission.

He would be glad to be rid of this place, it had been on the books for five years. He approached the girls.

"Ms Harris?" He enquired.

"That would be me." Maddie held out her hand to him and he took it, surprised at the pressure of the handshake. This was obviously a confident woman.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ted Brisley, we spoke this morning on the phone." His smile didn't quite reach his eyes and the girls were reminded of a shark circling its prey.

"Would you like to see inside. I'm sure you can recognize the potential of this place already, and you know what they say – position, position, position." He waffled on as he unlocked the front door.

Maddie could hardly stop herself from laughing as Ashley pulled faces behind the realtors back, mocking the sales pitch he was trying on them. She had heard it all before. They followed him inside.

Both the girls gasped as they stepped into the entranceway. Everything was covered in a thick coat of dust, and the place smelt of mould,

but what they saw before them was what had been an absolutely stunning home in it's heyday.

The staircase that was directly in front of them had solid decorative banisters on either side. Ashley brushed aside some of the dusk and discovered that they were made of solid teak.

She gave the banister a shake and it held firm. That was a good sign and she nodded her head, walking into the lounge room that was situated to the right of the entranceway.

The carpet was a ghastly green color, but that didn't concern Ashley, carpet could always be ripped up and replaced. She was interested in what lay beneath the carpet.

"Hey Maddie, give me a hand over here for a second." She called to her friend, who had already gone through into the dining area that was off the lounge room.

Maddie came back in and found Ashley kneeling in the corner of the lounge room, tugging at the carpet. She glanced at the realtor who was watching her with undisguised curiosity.

"You don't mind, do you?" She asked him, almost as an afterthought."

"Go right ahead, it's not like the carpet is repairable or anything." He said flippantly.

Maddie knelt down next to Ashley and they both gave the corner of the carpet a good tug. It came loose and Ashley easily peeled back the underlay, revealing beautiful oak floorboards underneath.

"That's almost sacrilegious, covering up floorboards like this." She exclaimed, grinning at Maddie.

"This is good Maddie, this is really good, the floor's still in great condition. All it would take is to rip up the carpet and give this floor a good rub back and polish and it will look as good as new."

"You seem to know your stuff, young lady." The realtor commented.

"Oh I dabble a little in Interior Design, just a hobby really." Ashley winked at Maddie, neither girl willing to give away too much information to the salesman.

It would go much better at negotiation time if he underestimated them.

The rest of the bottom floor was in similar condition. They both winced when they walked into the kitchen to find hopelessly dated orange cupboards and brown linoleum bench tops.

"The kitchen will have to go." Maddie commented.

"I couldn't agree more." Ashley pulled a face as she took in the disastrous room. "Imagine waking up to a hang over and trying to make coffee in this." They both laughed at the thought.

Upstairs was a different story. The roof had leaked and all six bedrooms had extensive damage.

The bathroom was an absolute disaster. The pipes were rusted, the bath and hand basin were cracked and half of the tiles had fallen off the wall.

Maddie didn't care, she loved it. It would take a lot of work, but she knew it would be worth it. The house just felt right. She turned to the realtor and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Ted, would you mind if my friend and I had some private time to discuss this?" She asked him sweetly.

The realtor flushed at the attention and told the girls he would meet them out the back. Maddie didn't really need to look at the back yard as she had already seen it on the weekend.

"So, what do you think?" She asked, turning to Ashley.

"It's going to take a lot of work." Ashley warned her. "But Maddie, this place could be absolutely gorgeous. Do you know what he's asking for it?"

"In the vicinity of $350 000." Maddie told her. "I did a bit of research on land value around this area and a block this size bare would go for around $250 000.

I think asking for $100k for a house in this condition is a bit of a stretch, don't you?"

"I agree, the house itself is practically worthless, but it has strong foundations and we could rebuild it easily enough." Ashley's mind was already racing with ideas.

"I think I might put in an offer for $300 000. That's probably going to be the best offer he's had. I believe the house has been on the books for quite some time." Maddie waited for Ashley's opinion.

"If you can get it for that, it'll be a bargain." Ashley agreed. "You'll have to sink some serious money into fixing it up though." She warned her friend.

"No problem, I'll sell my apartment in New York, that'll give me plenty of capital to play with." Maddie decided on the spot that she was going to own this place. She grinned at Ashley.

"Come on, let's go and buy a house."


	17. Chapter 17

After putting in an offer to the realtor, the girls said their goodbyes and headed back into town to meet Karen for lunch.

Maddie felt a bit guilty over the lack of time she had spent with her sister over the last few days. Karen was the main reason she had headed for Miramar in the first place.

The three girls enjoyed a leisurely lunch sitting at a table in the sun outside one of the local cafes, looking out over the water.

Karen had a fund raising committee meeting at 1.30, leaving after she had extracted a promise from her sister that she and Maverick would join Tom and herself for dinner that evening.

Ashley offered to take care of Darry, so the evening was all organized.

Maddie and Ashley spent a couple of hours browsing in the clothes shops that lined the waterfront-shopping district.

They tried on a few outfits, and Maddie fell in love with a gorgeous red halter neck dress with a low cut back and a split that showed off just the right amount of leg.

Ashley grinned when she came out of the change room to look in the full-length mirror.

"Mav is going to love that dress." She told her friend.

"Yeah, he will, won't he?" Maddie agreed, twirling in front of the mirror, admiring the dress as it fell flatteringly around her.

She glanced at the price tag, shrugged her shoulders and told the sales woman she would take it.

"Now, what about you?" She turned to Ashley. "We have to find you something new if we're going to hit this infamous club I've heard so much about on Friday night."

"Oh no Maddie." Ashley protested. "I don't really need anything, besides I can't really afford to be wasting money on clothes until I get the business up and running again."

"It'll be my treat." Maddie insisted. "Call it payment for your professional advice this morning. Now let's go have a look."

She grabbed Ashley's hand and pulled her back onto the main floor of the shop. They looked at a number of dresses but none of them seemed to be the right one.

They were just about to give up as the time to pick Darry up from school was quickly approaching when the sales woman came out from the back store room carrying

a beautiful green dress with a fitted bodice, shoestring straps and a full flowing skirt that fell just below the knees.

"Oh now that I like." Ashley breathed.

"It's gorgeous." Maddie agreed. "You've got to try it on."

"They've only come in today." The saleswoman told her, handing the dress to Ashley. "I thought with your coloring, the green would suit you perfectly."

Ashley closed the door of the change room and slipped into the dress. It was a perfect fit, and the sales woman had been right, it really did suit her.

She opened the door and went to show the dress off to Maddie.

"Oh Ashley, you are going to knock Lee's socks of with that." Maddie said, openly admiring the way that the dress accentuated her friend's figure.

" Now why would I care what he thought of me anyway?" Ashley retorted a little sharply.

"Come on Ashley, you can try and fool yourself if you want, but I know you like him." Maddie teased her, watching the color rise in Ashley's cheeks.

"Yes well that may be, but it doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it, and if you say anything I'll come after you." She threatened Maddie jokingly.

"My lips are sealed." Maddie smiled at her friend. "We'll take it." She told the sales woman, who was hovering nearby.

She decided to refrain from mentioning that the dress just happened to be the exact same shade of green as Lee's eyes.

By the time Ashley had redressed, Maddie had paid for the new dresses and was waiting for her, holding the bags.

Ashley glanced at her watch, realizing that Darry would be getting out of school in about fifteen minutes.

"We'd better hustle if we're going to make it back to the base in time." She told Maddie.

"No problem, better put on your seatbelt." Maddie grinned as she unlocked the doors of the Porsche, relishing the prospect of giving it a bit of a workout.


	18. Chapter 18

Maddie swung the little Porsche into the small parking lot opposite the school with a screech of the tires, earning herself a dirty look from the mothers that were waiting across the road for the bell to ring.

Ashley hadn't missed the disapproving stares they had received and grinned at her friend.

"I guess we don't really fit the profile of good little Navy wives and mothers." She commented, laughing as they crossed the road.

"Why would you want to?" Maddie asked her. "Look at them, they could be clones. The hairstyles are all the same, and don't even get me started on what they're wearing."

"Maybe the Navy grows wives for their officers in those top secret hangers that nobody's allowed to know anything about." Ashley suggested.

"God, could you imagine Maverick and Lee ending up married to one of those." Both the girls were in hysterics by this stage, and the disapproving looks kept coming.

The girls walked up to the gate, trying in vain to suppress their laughter.

"And who exactly are you ladies here to collect?" One of the mothers demanded haughtily, eying Maddie and Ashley suspiciously.

" We are here to collect Darry Mitchell." Ashley informed her, copying the woman's haughty tone perfectly. Maddie suppressed another giggle.

"Really, I wasn't aware that Captain Mitchell was married, I was of the understanding that he was a single father." Ashley looked at Maddie and rolled her eyes.

"He's not married." Maddie spoke up. "At least, I hope he's not or I'm in all sorts of trouble." She winked at Ashley.

"Ashley is Captain Mitchell's housemate and I'm, well I guess I'm his girlfriend." She and Maverick hadn't really discussed the dynamics of their budding relationship yet.

Before the stuck up mother could say another word, the bell rang and the kids came running out of their classrooms.

"Talk about saved by the bell." Ashley commented wryly, waving to Darry as he made his way over to them.

"Hi Ashley, hi Maddie. Can Tim come over to play please?" He looked from one to the other appealingly. The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't see why not Darry." Ashley said to him, smiling.

"Cool, thanks Ashley. I'll just go tell him it's ok." Darry ran off to find his friend.

A sudden horrible thought occurred to Maddie.

"God, I hope his mum isn't one of the witches from the Officers Wives club." She said to Ashley, pulling a face at the thought of it.

"Let's hope not." Ashley agreed. "I guess we're about to find out." She watched Darry walking back towards them with another little boy and a lady following close behind.

"Hi, I'm Tara Spencer, Tim's mum." She greeted the girls with a warm smile and they felt themselves relax a little. She definitely wasn't one of the witches.

"I'm Ashley, I share a house with Captains Mitchell and Sanders and help them keep on eye on Darry here." Ashley shook her outstretched hand.

"You're a brave woman, sharing a house with those two reprobates." Tara grinned and then turned to Maddie. "And you are?"

"Maddie Harris, Maverick's girlfriend and also Karen Croft's sister." Maddie instinctively liked this woman, so she didn't mind sharing some information.

"Wow, so Mav's dating the Co's sister in law. The base gossips are going to have a field day with this one." Tara commented, nodding towards the group of women who had given the girls trouble earlier.

"Are you sure you want to be seen speaking to me?" Tara continued. "I mean, after all, you girls are associated with officers and I'm just a mere enlisted man's wife."

"Tara, if we had make a choice between you and that lot, well let's just say that it wouldn't even be a contest." Ashley laughed.

"You're welcome to join us back at the house for coffee while the boys play." She offered.

"You know, I might just take you up on that." Tara accepted gratefully. "It'll be nice to have some time chatting to people who have lives outside of the Navy."

Maverick and Lee gave each other a curious look as they took in the collection of cars that were on their front lawn.

One belonged to Ashley, but the black Porsche and the red Honda were a mystery. They glanced admiringly at the sleek lines of the Porsche as they walked up the front steps.

Laughter was coming from inside the house, and they could hear Darry and another child squealing from the backyard.

They walked through into the kitchen to find Maddie, Ashley and another woman stationed at the window, pelting water balloons at the kids in the back yard.

Darry loved every minute of it. Maverick walked up behind Maddie and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck.

"What is it with you and water?" He asked, smiling cheekily.

"Hi honey, we didn't hear you come in." Maddie turned in his arms and gave him a lingering welcome home kiss.

"Alright you two, knock it off or some of these will be coming your way." Ashley threatened them with the water balloon she had in her hands.

"Guys, this is…" Ashley was cut off mid introduction.

"Tara Spencer." The boys said in unison, both giving Tara a hug.

"So how's Jim?" Maverick asked. "I didn't realize you guys were on base or I would have come round to see you before now."

"We only arrived last week." Tara smiled at her old friends. "Jim is going to be thrilled to find out that you guys are here."

"So you haven't traded up yet Tara." Lee flirted. "I keep telling you to give that enlisted guy the flick and see what life is like with an officer."

"Yeah right Lee." Tara scoffed. "As if I'd trade Jim in just to become another one of your little conquests. You've got to look out for this one Ashley, he's too smooth for his own good."

She grinned at Lee and gave him another quick hug.

"I take it you already know each other then." Ashley asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tara and Jim Spencer had become good friends with Maverick and Lee while they were all stationed together on another base.

Tara had been pregnant at the same time as Maverick's then partner, Jillian. Tim and Darry had been born only weeks apart and Tara and Jillian supported each other

through the early difficult days of motherhood. While Tara relished her new role as a mum, Jillian had a lot of trouble adjusting.

She never could understand why it was that Jillian had walked out on Maverick when Darry was only eighteen months old.

He was such a nice guy, and Tara felt that he had deserved better treatment than what he had received at the hands of Jillian.

A few weeks before she left, Jill had confided in her that she was unhappy and that she felt trapped.

She and Maverick had been together for a long time. They were childhood sweethearts and until now, she had blindly followed him wherever he went without question.

Now she wasn't sure that being a Navy wife and mother was what she wanted for her life.

She had always dreamed of being a singer, everyone always told her she had a good voice, but Tara had never dreamed that she would actually go through with it.

A month after their conversation, Jillian took Darry to the base crèche, packed her bags and left a note for Maverick explaining that he couldn't give her what she wanted, and that she wouldn't be back.

She wouldn't fight him for custody of their son, she just wasn't interested in being a mother.

Maverick had been understandably shocked and upset, but took the news much better than Tara had anticipated.

She wondered how much of their relationship had been based on love, and how much had been based on habit.

Lee, for his part, was glad to see the back of Jillian. They had never gotten on, and he had only tolerated her for his partner's sake.

She still heard from Jill every now and then, as they had formed a close friendship.

Jillian had enjoyed some success in some small stage shows off Broadway, but was still waiting for that ever-elusive big break that would make her a star.

Tara now watched the interaction between Maverick and his new girlfriend with interest.

That boy is in love, she thought to herself. She was pleased for Mav, he deserved to be happy, and she couldn't wait to get home and let Jim know that she had found their friends again.

"So, what are we doing for dinner?" Maverick asked the girls. "Maybe you and Jim could come over for a BBQ Tara." He suggested.

"Sorry honey, not tonight." Maddie told him. "We've received the royal summons. Our presence has been requested for dinner at the Croft's residence."

"Well I guess I can't argue with dinner at the Co's." Maverick grinned. "How about tomorrow night, around six?" He asked Tara.

"Sounds great Mav, I'll look forward to it. Nice to meet you girls, thanks for the coffee." Tara motioned to Tim to come inside as they had to go.

"Bye Tara." Lee grinned at her.

"Goodbye Lee." She gave him a dismissive look, laughing as he gave her a pretend brokenhearted look.

"You are incorrigible, Lee Sanders." Ashley told him, threatening to throw a water balloon at him. "Even married women aren't off limits to you."

She turned and walked Tara to the front door.

"Sorry about him, he doesn't know how to control himself." She apologized to Tara.

"Oh don't worry about it." Tara laughed. "I'm used to Lee. He's actually pretty harmless. One of these days though, he's going to fall in love and he's not going to know what hit him."

"Yeah, right." Ashley scoffed. "I don't think he'd know how. I'll see you tomorrow night." She waved goodbye to Tara and Tim


	19. Chapter 19

"So gorgeous, what are we going to do this evening?" Lee's green eyes twinkled as he cornered Ashley in the kitchen, placing an arm on either side of her, effectively trapping her against the bench.

Ashley smiled and quickly ducked underneath one of his arms. She opened the door of the fridge, scanning what was inside.

"Well Lee, I don't know what you're doing but Darry and I are going to have ham and cheese omelettes for dinner, followed by a date with Tom and Jerry in front of the television."

She kept her back to him as she started pulling the ingredients out of the fridge. Lee was thoughtful for a moment. Gently, he took one of her arms and turned her to face him.

"Why are you upset with me, Ashley?" His eyes bored into hers, trying to read her emotions. Ashley pulled her arm away.

"What gives you the idea that I'm upset with you Lee?" She met his gaze steadily.

"You seem to have been making a point of avoiding me as much as possible, so I must have done something to upset you." He persisted.

"Really Lee, I'm fine." Ashley let out an exasperated sigh. "Just because I'm not falling all over you every time you decide to give me some attention does not mean that I'm upset with you.

Now stop making a pest of yourself and get the fry pan out for me." She returned to her dinner preparations without giving him another glance.

He did as she asked and quietly left her to cook dinner, joining Darry in the lounge room.

Ashley relaxed a little when he left the kitchen. She was proud of how she had handled the situation, but was a little puzzled as to why Lee would be concerned about her being upset with him.

The guy was a complete enigma. He had flirted outrageously with Tara that afternoon, reinforcing Ashley's belief that Lee wouldn't know how to be serious with a woman if he tried.

Now he almost had her convinced that he actually cared what she thought about him.

Ashley shook her head in confusion, she really would have to stop trying to work Lee out, it was sending her crazy.

"This looks great Karen." Maverick complimented his hostess. "Thanks for the invite."

"You're welcome Maverick." Karen smiled at him. "I just can't believe that it took dating my sister to finally convince you to come to dinner."

"I would have come sooner if you had stopped trying to set me up all the time." Maverick teased her.

"See Karen, I told you that your little match making schemes were scaring people off." Tom admonished her.

Maddie sat next to Maverick, enjoying listening to the banter between them.

She had been a bit apprehensive about this dinner, half expecting that Tom and Karen would put Maverick through the wringer, but it all seemed to be going well.

"So Maddie, what time is your flight on Thursday?" Tom asked his sister in law. "Will you need a ride to San Diego, or have you already organized something." He looked meaningfully in Maverick's direction.

Maverick felt his heart plummet. He knew that Maddie going back to New York was inevitable, but he hadn't expected to have to deal with it quite so soon. Suddenly the food wasn't looking as appealing.

Maddie glanced at the expression on Maverick's face with concern.

"Actually Tom, I've cancelled my flight." She told him. Karen looked at her in surprise.

"I've still got three weeks left of my vacation." She explained. "And I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be spending it, so I thought I might hang around, if that's ok with you."

Maverick felt the sudden tension in his shoulders begin to ease and his appetite returned.

"Of course it's ok with us." Tom was pleased. "Not that I think we'll be seeing all that much of you if Captain Mitchell here has anything to do with it."

Karen was speechless. Maddie had changed her plans. Maddie never changed her plans, especially for a man.

She had always told Karen that the only thing that could make her change her plans was family. If Karen or Tom ever needed her, she would drop everything and come running.

Apart from that, nobody else had ever been important enough to get Maddie to budge once she had decided on something.

A realization suddenly dawned on Karen. Oh my god, she thought to herself, I think my sister is in love.

Ashley tucked Darry into bed and dropped a kiss on his forehead, turning out the light as she left the bedroom.

She had to admit that it had been a fun evening.

All three of them had watched Tom and Jerry cartoons for a while, then Lee had dragged out an old Monopoly Board and they had taken part in a very rowdy game.

Conveniently the rulebook had disappeared and Lee and Darry had a great time inventing new rules, usually ones that would suit whatever position they found themselves in at the time.

They managed to bankrupt Ashley in record time, then decided to pool their resources and buy everything on the board.

Ashley tried to point out that this entirely defeated the purpose of the game, but ended up giving up, going to the kitchen to get ice cream for desert.

By the time she got back, Darry had put Lee in jail for life for committing fraud, and was claiming outright victory.

The earlier tension between Ashley and Lee had evaporated, and Ashley found herself relaxing and really enjoying his company.

It seemed that Lee had dropped his pretences and was actually being himself for once. Ashley liked what she saw.

"So why didn't you tell me you had decided to change your plans?" Maverick asked Maddie as they strolled hand in hand back towards his place after a lovely evening with Tom and Karen.

"I only cancelled the flight this morning, and I hadn't had a chance to talk to you about it." Maddie stopped walking and turned towards him, searching his face for a clue as to what he was thinking.

"You don't mind, do you?" She asked him, suddenly worried that she might have done the wrong thing. He gave her a disarming smile and wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you kidding? I've been going crazy trying to work out how I was going to manage hopping between here and New York so I could still see you." He gave her a gentle kiss.

"At least now this gives me a bit more time to work on the logistics of it all."

"Does this mean, Captain Mitchell, that this could be something more than just a holiday romance?" She asked him coyly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm not on holidays." He whispered against her lips. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Ms Harris." He captured her mouth in a heart-stopping kiss.

The sound of shouts and a horn beeping broke into their private world. Maverick looked up to see a carload of his trainees driving past, cheering them on.

"Go for it Sir." One of them yelled out the window. Maddie buried her face in his shoulder, embarrassed by the unwanted attention.

Maverick grinned at his trainees as they waved and took off down the road.

"Maybe we should go home." He smiled down at Maddie.

"Good idea, before they decide to come back and give you some pointers." She laughed.

"By the way." He said to her. "When exactly are you going to let me take your car out for a spin?" His eyes gleamed as he grinned at her expectantly.

"How about never?" Came the cheeky reply.


	20. Chapter 20

The phone was ringing when Tara opened her front door after dropping Tim at school.

She had bumped into Maddie and Ashley as they dropped Darry off, and they had chatted for about half an hour or so, laughing about the boys antics at the BBQ they had enjoyed the night before.

Tara had been so pleased for Jim that he had been reunited with Maverick and Lee. Throughout his career in the Navy, Jim had made many friends, but always amongst the enlisted ranks.

Friendships with officers just didn't happen. That was until he had met Maverick and Lee.

They were different from the other officers, and had always made him feel welcome and accepted. They treated him as an equal, rather than a subordinate, and he had never forgotten it.

Tara answered the phone breathlessly after running through the house to the kitchen to get to it.

"Tara Spencer speaking." She puffed into the phone as she picked up the receiver.

"No need to ask what you've been up to then." The voice on the other end of the line said, laughing. "Jim taken the morning off, has he?"

"Jillian!!!" Tara exclaimed. "It's great to hear from you, where have you been? I tried to call your cell phone a few times, but the message said it had been disconnected."

"Oh, you know me Tara, I lost the stupid thing somewhere and just didn't bother getting it replaced for a while." Jillian giggled lightheartedly.

"I just got around to getting a new one and retrieving the messages from the old phone. That's how I got your new number."

"Well I'm glad you did, I was beginning to get worried when I hadn't heard from you for a while." Tara told her, the relief in her voice obvious.

"Oh Tara, you worry too much. Things are just fine." She told her friend with a confidence in her voice that she didn't really feel.

Things weren't really going fine. Jillian had been out of work for about five months now and things were getting tight.

She hadn't really lost her phone, she just hadn't been able to afford to pay the bill.

She had borrowed a friend's phone to retrieve her messages and was happy to hear that Tara and Jim had been stationed back on land for a while.

Now she had somewhere she could go and stay if she needed to. Her friend hadn't returned from the shops yet, so she had used the phone to call Tara.

She only half listened as Tara caught her up on all the news of life in the Navy. It sounded like not much had changed since she left.

Jill was filing her nails and making appropriate responses as Tara chatted away, when suddenly a name she hadn't heard in a long time was mentioned.

"You are never going to guess who's on base as an instructor." Tara gushed.

"No, you're probably right, I'll never guess, so I guess you'd better end the suspense for me." Jillian stifled a yawn, already bored with the conversation.

"Maverick." Tara stated. "We had dinner with him and Lee last night."

This got Jillian's attention. If Maverick was an instructor now, that meant that his position on base was more or less permanent.

No more packing up and moving around every few months. The conversation was suddenly interesting.

"Really? How is he?" Jill asked. Her mind was turning over quickly, formulating a new plan that could see her out of the trouble she had found herself in.

"He's great. He's a captain now, and Darry is huge!!! He and Tim are in the same class at school and are already the best of mates." Tara continued.

"Oh, and he is seeing the most gorgeous girl, a lawyer from New York. He's crazy about her. It's so good to see him happy."

Jillian frowned at this latest piece of information. A new girlfriend could complicate things. Never mind, she felt sure that she could eliminate any competition if she had to.

After all, she was Maverick's childhood sweetheart and the mother of his child.

She chatted to Tara for another few minutes, then ended the call saying she had an audition to attend.


	21. Chapter 21

"Thanks so much for this guys." Maverick smiled at Jim and Tara gratefully as Darry ran inside with Tim after a quick goodbye for his dad.

"Anytime Mav." Jim smiled back. "Tim has been looking forward to this sleep over all week. He's been driving us crazy asking how much longer."

Maverick had organized with his friends to have Darry overnight on Friday so that he and Lee were free to take both the girls to the Officer's Club.

They agreed on a time for him to pick Darry up the next day and he made his goodbyes and headed back to the house.

As he turned the corner into their street, his eyes rested on Maddie standing on the front verandah.

She was leaning on the railing with a glass of wine in one hand, enjoying the spectacular colors of the setting sun.

She was wearing a gorgeous red halter neck dress and he stood watching her for a couple of moments, the last rays of the sun glowing on her dark hair.

God she was beautiful, he thought to himself. She took his breath away. He still couldn't believe that someone like Maddie could possibly be interested in him.

She straightened up and saw him standing in the street watching her. Smiling, she raised her glass to him and blew him a kiss, beckoning to him to join her on the verandah.

Maverick vaulted the front gate in one fluid movement and took the front steps two at a time as he hurried to her side. She handed him a glass of wine and gave him a gentle kiss.

"You look fantastic." He whispered against her lips as they broke apart.

Maddie did a little twirl for him, the skirt of her dress spreading as she spun around.

"So you like it?" She asked him, smiling suggestively.

"I love it." He told her. "Though now I'm not sure that we should go to the club."

"Why not?" She asked him in surprise.

"Because I'm going to spend the entire night fighting of all the guys who are going to try and steal you away from me." He joked.

"Mav, honey, you've got nothing to worry about." Maddie assured him. "There's not a man alive that could possibly steal me away from you."

She colored a little, her eyes looking away, embarrassed at revealing so much of how she felt about him.

Maverick gently lifted her chin with his fingers so that she was looking into his eyes and he saw it clearly for the first time.

The reflection of the feelings that he had for her. His heart soared as he realized that Maddie really cared for him, felt the same way that he did.

He had always been skeptical about stories of people falling in love in a heartbeat, but now, as he captured her mouth in a heart-stopping kiss, he completely understood what they were talking about.

"Oh for gods sake Madison, get a room would you?" Maverick looked up in surprise at the direction the voice had come from.

They hadn't heard the cab pull up or the approaching footsteps of their unexpected visitor.

The voice belonged to an attractive blonde woman who was now standing next to them on the front verandah.

Her hair was perfectly styled, her makeup was flawless and her outfit gave her the appearance that she had just stepped of the front cover of Vogue magazine.

Maddie laughed with delight.

"Sam!!!" Maddie exclaimed, embracing the woman affectionately. "What are you doing here?"

"Well darling, I just had to see for myself if this new man of yours was as gorgeous as you said he was." She explained, her eyes appraising Maverick as she spoke.

"Now I'm thinking that maybe your description didn't do him justice." She smiled flirtatiously, extending her hand to Maverick.

"I'm Samantha Gray." She introduced herself. Maverick gave Maddie an amused look and flashed Sam a winning smile.

"Adam Mitchell." He replied. "But you can call me Maverick, I'm so used to my call sign now that I probably wouldn't answer to anything else."

He took her outstretched hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as a welcoming gesture.

"Honey, you didn't tell me we were expecting a visitor." He teased Maddie gently. "I'll just go inside and get another wine glass."

Sam admired his retreating figure and turned to her old friend with a cheeky grin.

"Maddie, sweetie, you weren't kidding." She whistled. "He is hot with a capital H. No wonder you didn't want to come home."

Maddie colored a little at her friend's open appreciation of her new man.

"Yeah, he's something else, isn't he?" She agreed, her eyes glowing.

"Now Sam." She turned to her friend. "What are you really doing here?"

"You always could read me like a book." Sam shrugged her shoulders.

"I got the distinct impression from you on the phone that you were considering staying here on a permanent basis, so I thought I'd better come and see for

myself what could possibly possess you to throw away everything you have back in New York."

Maverick came back with another wine glass. "I'm beginning to get a clearer picture now."

"A clearer picture of what?" Maverick asked with interest.

"A clearer picture of why my friend here seems to have taken temporary leave of her senses." Sam quipped.

"I think if I had a man of your caliber warming my bed, I'd be off with the pixies as well." She grinned teasingly at Maddie.

"Well if you two have finished embarrassing me now, I think I might go and see if Ashley is ready." Maddie retreated into the house before Sam could say anything else.

Ashley fastened on an earring and slipped on her shoes before taking a final look in the full-length mirror.

She smiled at her reflection, pleased with what she saw. Maddie had been so right about the dress, it really did suit her.

She smoothed her hair and switched off the light in her room.

She was about to go down the stairs when a low whistle came from behind her.

She turned to see Lee standing in the upstairs hallway having just finished getting ready himself.

She smiled at him uncertainly, waiting for a reaction.

"Ashley, you look stunning." He breathed as he took in the vision in front of him.

"Thanks Lee." She replied, suddenly feeling a little shy.

"So, are you looking forward to tonight?" He asked her, his green eyes locking with hers, glowing intensely.

Ashley started to feel a little flustered under his attentive stare.

"I haven't been dancing in ages, so yes, I am looking forward to it." She replied.

At that moment, Maddie appeared at the top of the stairs, breaking the building tension between them.

"So what's taking you guys so long?" She asked, glancing from Lee to Ashley with an amused look on her face. "Ashley, that dress looks fantastic, doesn't it Lee?"

"I was just telling her how gorgeous she looks." Lee smiled, though he hadn't taken his eyes off Ashley.

"Well it looks like I'm not going to have any trouble getting dance partners tonight then." Ashley had regained her composure.

She linked her arm through Maddie's and threw a casual glance in Lee's direction.

"Are you coming?" She asked him flippantly.

Lee smiled to himself and shook his head, following the girls down the stairs.

Ashley could pretend all she wanted, he knew the attraction was still alive and well between them.

He heard laughter coming from the lounge room when he got to the bottom of the stairs and walked through the doorway to find Maverick chatting to an attractive,

well groomed blonde woman, who was introducing herself to Ashley as Samantha, one of Maddie's old friends.

Lee stood back quietly and observed her with interest. He had known women like her before, she reminded him of the socialite set that his mother used to entertain when he was younger.

Lee had received quite an education at the hands of some of his mother's friends, not that his mother had known anything about it.

Samantha's eyes rested on him as he lounged in the doorway. The smile that came to her face and the sudden change of body language told him all that he needed to know.

He had read her correctly, and a plan began to formulate in his mind. Maybe if he played up to her a little, he could get the reaction he was looking for from Ashley.

"And who is this gorgeous hunk of manhood, Maddie?" Sam cooed as she walked over to where Lee was standing. Maverick grinned at his partner.

"This is my flight partner, Lee Sanders. Lee, meet Samantha Gray, a friend of Maddie's" Maverick introduced them.

Lee took Sam's offered hand and raised it to his lips.

"Always a pleasure to meet a friend of the lovely Madison's." He said smoothly. "Especially one as appealing as you are." Sam giggled and reluctantly drew her hand away from his grasp.

"This place just keeps looking better all the time." Sam said, her eyes almost devouring Lee on the spot.

"Well, we were just about to head out to the Officer's Club for a night out if you'd like to join us Sam." Lee offered, giving her a suggestive smile.

"That sounds wonderful, you don't mind if I tag along, do you?" Sam looked at Maddie for her reaction.

"Not at all Sam, it'll be fun having you along. Now have you organized anywhere to stay yet?" Maddie asked her friend.

Before Sam could answer, Lee jumped in.

"We can't have her coming all this way and expect her to stay at a motel, now can we?" He asked Maddie.

"She could stay in Darry's room tonight, and I'm sure we could work something out from there."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Lee had Sam all organized and was walking out the door with her hand tucked safely in the crook of his arm, chatting away to her happily.


	22. Chapter 22

Ashley was beginning to feel like a third wheel and she didn't like it one bit. Since Sam had arrived it was like she was completely invisible.

The five of them had walked the short distance to the club together, but she had barely seen Lee since they had walked through the doors.

If he wasn't on the dance floor with Sam, he was at the bar buying her drinks or introducing her around to everyone he knew at the club.

Ashley couldn't believe that she had been dumped so unceremoniously.

She and Lee had been getting on really well during the week, and just as she was starting to think that maybe things might work out for them,

Sam had turned up and the old Lee was back with a vengeance.

Maverick sat quietly sipping his drink, watching the turmoil of emotions on Ashley's face.

Sam had perched herself quite comfortably on Lee's lap and was chatting away happily to Maddie, who was sitting on the arm of Mav's chair with her arm resting on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around Maddie's waist and pulled her down onto his lap, giving her a gentle kiss.

"Honey, would you mind if I asked Ashley to dance?" He asked her. "She's looking a bit left out over there if you know what I mean." He glanced in Lee and Sam's direction.

Maddie looked at Ashley, suddenly concerned as she realized what was upsetting her.

"Go right ahead Mav, she looks like she could do with some cheering up." Maddie smiled at him. "I'll be fine here."

Maverick gave her a grateful smile as she moved of his lap, allowing him to stand up. He gave her another kiss and walked over to where Ashley was sitting.

He took the glass she had been gulping from and put it on the table, held out his hand to her and grinned.

"Come on gorgeous." He said to her. "I haven't danced with you yet tonight and it's written in our co-habitation agreement that you have to dance with me at least once every time we go to the club."

"What co-habitation agreement, I didn't sign any agreement." Ashley grinned back, grateful for the distraction as she took his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.

"Did we forget to get you to sign?" Maverick looked at her innocently. "It also states that you agree to always do the groceries, clean the bathroom, mow the lawns, oh and did I mention wash the cars?"

He ducked as Ashley tried to whack him across the head.

"Now that's better." He said. "At least I got you to laugh."

They swayed together to the music and Ashley began to realize that she had found a really good friend in Maverick. She was touched by his obvious concern for her.

"I wouldn't let that worry you." Mav nodded in Lee's direction. "She's just another distraction in a long line. He'll tire of her soon enough."

"I couldn't care less about Lee's love life." Ashley declared, the defiance in her eyes making them glow.

"As a matter of fact, Mav, you could do me a big favor and introduce me around to some of the other instructors. I'll be damned if I'm going to let him ruin my night."

"That's my girl." Maverick smiled at her. "Come on, let's go meet some of the boys. Looks like they've all arrived now and I just know that they are going to love you."

"It looks like some of them are loving Maddie too." Ashley smiled, giving Maverick a sly sideways glance as she watched a few of the new arrivals make a beeline for Mav's girl.

His brow creased and he hurried through the crowd back towards the table, his grip on Ashley's hand tightening.

Ashley's head was spinning. She wasn't sure if it was from the alcohol, or trying to keep up with which one of the instructors she was dancing with this time.

She and Maverick had arrived back at the table to find Maddie surrounded by three of his workmates, each one trying to convince her to dance with them while Lee watched on in amusement.

Maverick had walked up behind the chair Maddie was seated in and wrapped his arms around her from behind, leaning in to give her a loving kiss.

"I see you guys have introduced yourselves to my girlfriend." He glared at them menacingly, the look on his face telling them they had better stay away from this lady.

"Oh come on Mitchell, you can't be greedy and have them all." One of the guys who Maverick introduced later as Hollywood said as he glanced in Ashley's direction.

"Who said anything about being greedy." Maverick smiled down at Maddie. "I've got everything I need right here."

This comment was followed by groans and gagging noises from the other instructors, making both the girls laugh.

"Shut up guys, or I won't introduce you to this lovely lady and believe me, you'll be missing out." Maverick warned them, looking in Ashley's direction.

"Alright, are you going to behave now?" He asked them. "This is Ashley, our new housemate. Ashley, meet Iceman, Slider, Hollywood, Cowboy, Cougar and Merlin."

Ashley gave them all a gorgeous smile.

"Nice to meet you all, now who wants to buy me a drink?" She laughed as six guys scrambled towards the bar, squabbling amongst themselves as they went.

That had been two hours ago and Ashley had barely sat down since. She had never danced so much before, and she was in serious danger of becoming very drunk.

Every time she finished a drink, another one had miraculously appeared in her hand, and her head was beginning to swim.

The hulking, dark haired officer she was dancing with bent and whispered in her ear. She was sure his name was Slider; at least she thought she was sure.

"Do you want to go and grab some fresh air?" He asked her, smiling at her suggestively.

Ashley hesitated for a moment and glanced over to where Lee was dancing with Sam. His back was towards her and she could see Sam's head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

As though she knew she was being watched, Sam raised her head for a moment and looked directly at Ashley, a knowing smile forming on her lips as she ran her hands over Lee's back.

Her meaning was crystal clear to Ashley; I've got what you want.

Ashley felt sick to the stomach at the thought of Lee spending the night in Sam's arms.

She didn't intend to stick around to watch, so she fixed a smile on her face, wrapped her arms around Sliders neck and reached up to give him an impulsive kiss.

" Let's get out of here." She whispered to him.

Ashley grabbed her bag and jacket, said her farewells to Maddie and Maverick and left the club with Slider, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

She didn't give Lee and Sam a second glance.

Sam had gone to the bathroom and Lee stood next to their table, scanning the crowd.

"Looking for someone in particular mate?" Maverick asked him, passing him the drink that he had just collected from the bar.

"I was just thinking that I hadn't seen Ashley for a while." Lee commented, trying to keep the tone in his voice casual.

"I would have thought that you were too preoccupied to worry about where Ashley was." Maverick teased him. Maddie joined them, slipping her arm around Mavericks waist.

"What are we talking about?" She asked, sipping on her drink.

"Lee was just wondering where Ashley had gotten to." Maverick grinned at her.

"She left with Slider about half an hour ago." Maddie watched Lee carefully for his reaction. "They looked mighty cozy too." She added, trying hard not to laugh as she saw Lee's jaw line go tense.

"Whatever." Lee said, trying to sound flippant but not really succeeding.

"There's Sam, see you later guys." He took off across the crowded club, trying to fight off the anger he felt beginning to rise inside of him.

This was not how he had planned things at all. Ashley was supposed to be jealous, she was supposed to get mad at him.

This was designed to bring things between them to a head, to get her to admit that she was still attracted to him.

She was not supposed to turn the tables on him and go home with another man. Damn that woman, she was driving him crazy.

He reached Sam and fixed a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What do you say we blow this place, sweetheart?" He suggested, wrapping his arms around her waist. Sam gave him a sexy smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

They collected their things and headed back to the house. Lee couldn't shake the thought that he was going to be spending the night with the wrong woman.


	23. Chapter 23

Ashley groaned as she opened her eyes. She was immediately hit by sunlight streaming through the window that was above the bed she was lying in.

Her mouth was dry and her head was pounding. She had absolutely no idea where she was; it certainly wasn't her own bedroom.

With trepidation, she lifted the blankets, only to find to her relief that she was still fully clothed in the dress she had worn to the club the night before.

The only thing missing was her shoes. She thought hard for a moment, trying to piece together what had happened.

The last thing she remembered was leaving the club with Slider, still fuming over Sam's smug little expression and feeling really angry with Lee for being taken in by such a huge fake.

She recalled feeling extremely dizzy as soon as the cool night air had hit her face and after that there was nothing.

"Oh god, what did I do?" She whispered aloud to herself.

A gentle knock at the door caught her attention, and she held her breath.

Slider walked in carrying a steaming cup of fresh coffee.

"So, Sleeping Beauty is awake at last." He said, smiling at her. "How's the head?"

"I'd gladly swap it for another one right about now." Ashley muttered as she gratefully accepted the mug from Slider. "I'm almost scared to ask, but how did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Slider chuckled. " Don't look so worried Ashley, nothing happened. You passed out in the car on the way here and I thought it would be best just to let you sleep it off.

If it makes you feel any better, I slept on the couch."

"It does make me feel better and thanks for the coffee." Ashley was relieved. "I don't suppose you've got any aspirin hiding anywhere?"

"Are you kidding? You're on a naval base. We have shares in the company that makes the stuff. Back in a minute." Slider left her on her own to go in search of aspirin.

The insistent, muffled ringing of her mobile dragged Maddie reluctantly from her sleep. She groped through her handbag, retrieving the phone as she sat herself upright.

Maverick stirred next to her as she quietly answered the call.

"Ms Harris? This is Ted Brisley from Oceanside Realty. I showed you the house on Monday." The caller introduced himself. "I hope I'm not calling too early."

"Not at all Mr. Brisley." Maddie glanced at the clock, surprised to see that it was 10.30 already. "What can I do for you?"

"I thought you'd probably want to know as soon as possible that your offer on the house had been accepted by the vendors.

Congratulations Ms Harris, you just bought yourself a house." The realtor gushed.

"Now I've got the contract all drawn up. I assume that as you are a lawyer, you'll be handling that yourself, so feel free to drop by the office any time today and pick up a copy so you can read it over."

"That's great news Ted, thanks for letting me know." Maddie could hardly contain her excitement. "I'll be there in an hour or so." She hung up the phone and grinned to herself.

"What are you looking so pleased about?" Maverick was watching her, propped up one elbow.

He reached out with his other arm and pulled her back into the bed next to him.

"It's a surprise." She smiled at him mysteriously.

"I don't like surprises, now tell me what's going on." He demanded as he started tickling her.

Maddie squealed and tried to wriggle away from his grasp, but he was too strong and continued to torture her.

"Tell me." He demanded again.

"Mav, stop it." Maddie pleaded with him. "If you come with me now, I'll show you."

He stopped tickling her and kissed her gently, tangling his hands in her long dark hair.

"That would mean getting out of bed." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Do you want to find out, or don't you?" Maddie asked, gently kissing the side of his neck.

"If you don't stop doing that, we won't be going anywhere." Maverick groaned, his eyes burning with desire.

Maddie laughed, pulled back the bedcovers and jumped out of bed before he could stop her.

"You are enough to drive a man insane, did you know that?" He grinned at her.

"And you love me for it." She replied cheekily, heading in the direction of the bathroom.

"You have no idea how much." Maverick whispered as she disappeared into the hall.

An hour later, they were pulling into the long driveway that led to the cliff top house.

After a constant half an hour of badgering and pleading, Maddie had relented and allowed Maverick to drive.

She wasn't at all surprised at his skill in handling the quick little Porsche; he was a pilot after all. He eased the car to a halt in front of the house and gave Maddie a curious look.

She just smiled at him and got out of the car. He shrugged his shoulders and followed her.

They spent the next few minutes wandering around the exterior of the house. Maverick was especially impressed with the view over the ocean from the backyard.

"So, what do you think?" Maddie asked him quietly as they stood at the back fence looking out over the beach.

"It needs a lot of work, but I bet it could be fantastic if the effort was put in." He told her.

"I'm glad you think so because I just bought it." She said.

"You what?" Maverick asked her, surprise showing openly on his face.

"Well technically I don't own it yet, we still have to exchange contracts and money, but after the formalities are taken care of, it's all mine."

She watched his face carefully as she waited for this information to sink in.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" He asked her, his face full of hope.

"Yes Mav, it does." She told him, her voice filled with conviction.

"I've decided to stay here. New York doesn't hold anything for me anymore. I'm not happy in my job and I hate where I live.

I've really missed being close to Karen and Tom and I've always wanted to start up my own practice. Here is as good a place as any."

She paused for a moment, smiling at him. "And besides, you're here, not in New York, and I just can't handle the thought of being that far away from you."

She moved in close to him, wrapped her arms around his waist and waited for his reaction. Maverick was speechless.

He couldn't believe that she was giving up everything that she had in New York so that she could be with him. He gently pushed a strand of hair away from her face, his hand caressing her cheek.

Maddie began to feel a little apprehensive that he hadn't said anything yet. Had she read too much into this relationship, she suddenly panicked.

She started to speak and Maverick silenced her by placing a finger on her lips.

"Please honey, don't say another word." He whispered as he pulled her even closer, his mouth only centimeters from hers. "What you've just said couldn't have been more perfect."

He captured her mouth in a passionate kiss as a wave of relief passed through her body. He reluctantly pulled away and looked deep into her shining blue-gray eyes.

"I am so crazy in love with you, Madison Harris." He breathed. "So much that I can't think straight.

I know that making a decision this big can't have been easy for you and I am so grateful that you decided to trust me enough to give our relationship a real chance."

Maddie closed her eyes, breathing in his scent and just enjoying the moment.

"I'm glad you feel that way Mav, because I'm crazy in love with you too. I think I have been almost from the moment you kissed me in my sister's kitchen."

She admitted to him, almost relieved to have her feelings for him out in the open. She laid her head against his strong chest and they stood there holding each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Reluctantly, Maddie glanced at her watch and sighed.

"Much as I could stand here with you all day, Mav, I need to go and have a look at these contracts." She smiled at him.

" As long as they are in order, I can sign them and we can pick up the keys while we're there."

"Sounds great." He said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to get inside so we can get started on fixing this place up."

He stopped suddenly, realizing that they hadn't actually spoken about what the living arrangements would be. As if reading his mind, Maddie ran a hand down his arm.

"Relax Mav, I want you to think of this as your home as much as mine, which means that it's Darry's home as well, and Lee and Ashley too if they want to join us."

She reassured him as they walked back through the side gate to the car.


	24. Chapter 24

Ashley gave Slider a friendly kiss goodbye as she climbed out of his car, promising to meet him at the Officer's Mess for dinner at 7 that night.

She waved as he pulled away, smiling to herself as she walked up the front path. What a great guy, she thought to herself as she climbed the front stairs.

Slider had been so sweet to her, looking after her all morning until she was feeling a bit better, feeding her with coffee and aspirin and making her a late breakfast when she was feeling up to it.

He hadn't put any pressure on her for anything more than friendship and she had really enjoyed spending time with him. She was actually looking forward to their dinner date that night.

She didn't even notice Lee, who was sitting on one of the chairs on the front porch watching her.

"And where the hell have you been?" He demanded, a thunderous expression on his face.

Ashley jumped in fright, and then threw him a withering look.

"Lee, I didn't see you there." She said wryly. "And in answer to your question, it's none of your damned business where I've been." She retorted, feeling her temper beginning to rise.

She reached for the front door just as Lee grabbed her arm and roughly turned her to face him.

"It is my business when we share a house. I was worried, anything could have happened to you." The volume of his voice had risen a little.

"I appreciate your concern Lee." Ashley told him, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "But I can assure you that I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself.

I did it before you came along, and I'm sure that I'll continue to do it long after you're out of the picture. Now let my arm go, you're hurting me." Lee loosened his grip a little but didn't let her go.

"I didn't think you were the sort of girl to go home with a guy you only just met. Seems I may have been wrong about you, you're just like all the other girls at the club."

Lee regretted the words as soon as he had spoken them.

"How dare you think that. You of all people have any right to pass judgment on my behavior Lee Sanders." Ashley yelled at him, yanking her arm away from his grasp.

"I'm surprised you even noticed I was missing, I would have thought all your time would have been taken up entertaining Ms Blond Bombshell Socialite in there."

Her eyes blazed with fury as she pulled the front door open roughly to go inside.

"Ashley, I'm…" She cut him off mid sentence.

"I don't want to hear it Lee." She told him, a dangerous edge in her voice. "You've been acting like a child ever since she walked through that door, and I've had enough of you and your games.

Just let it go Lee. Come and see me if you decide to grow up."

She slammed the front door behind her, throwing a filthy look in Sam's direction who had just come downstairs to see what the commotion was all about, and stalked up the stairs to her room.

A couple of minutes later, she heard him gun the engine of his car and take off with a screech of tyres.

An hour later, Ashley had regained her composure and ventured downstairs. She had work to do on the designs for the outdoor entertaining area for General Stanley's wife.

She settled herself at the kitchen table and was soon deeply lost in creativity as she put her ideas down on paper as sketches.

She didn't hear the softly approaching footsteps, or even realize that somebody was watching her work with interest over her shoulder.

After about half an hour of intense concentration, she stretched and rose from her seat to grab herself a coffee.

"You know, you really are very talented Ashley." A voice from behind spoke quietly.

Ashley jumped and whirled around to find that Sam had been watching her. Ashley threw her a cold glance as she walked towards the kitchen.

"I didn't realize anybody was still home." She said flatly.

"Oh come on Ashley, you're not mad at me over the whole Lee thing, are you?" Sam had followed her into the kitchen.

"I was just having a little bit of fun, nothing serious. I'll be going home tomorrow, so you can have him all to yourself again." Sam said flippantly, giving Ashley an almost apologetic smile.

Ashley sighed as she looked at her.

"I'm not mad at you Sam, it's not your fault that Lee can only think with you know what every time an attractive woman shows any sign of interest in him." She said, her tone still slightly bitter.

"If it's any consolation Ashley, I'm pretty sure that he was only playing up to me to try and get a rise out of you." Sam admitted ruefully.

She had been well aware that she hadn't had Lee's undivided attention the night before. At the club, he seemed distracted and a little bit tense.

The only time she had felt him relax was when Ashley was in plain sight.

It didn't take Sam long to figure out that Lee had a real thing for the red headed beauty, and was trying to make her jealous, so Sam had decided to give him a helping hand and played along.

After all, the guy was seriously cute and would provide her with a much-needed diversion.

The evening had gone from bad to worse when they had left the club and headed for home.

It was pretty obvious that Lee didn't really want to be with her, and Sam wasn't about to spend the entire night playing second fiddle.

She had pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eye.

"Lee, unless you stop pretending I'm her, this isn't going to happen." She told him.

Lee dropped his arms and looked at his feet.

"I'm sorry Sam." He mumbled. "I don't know what's wrong with me tonight."

"I can tell you what's wrong with you Lee." Sam spoke softly. "You're in love with her and it scares the hell out of you. But she's not here, I am, and that's not what you want, is it?"

"I don't know what I want Sam." Lee cried in despair. "All I know is that I can't get her out of my head. She's the last thing I think about when I go to sleep, and she's the first thought I have when I wake up.

It's like I'm obsessed, and I don't know how to handle it. I've never felt this way about a woman before."

"Believe it or not Lee, I do understand how you feel." Sam told him kindly, thinking longingly of the only man she had ever loved.

Roger Gray had been twenty years older than Sam. He was a successful Stock Broker on Wall Street and the New York gossip set had immediately accused Sam of only being interested in his money.

Only Maddie had believed that Sam was truly in love and was genuinely happy for her when she and Roger married.

They had been blissfully happy for three years, until that terrible day when Roger had suffered a massive heart attack on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

He had died before he hit the floor; the medics though quick on the scene had been unable to revive him. He was only fifty-five.

Sam was totally devastated, grateful for her best friends support as she faced the inevitable rumors that circulated of her somehow being responsible for Roger's sudden demise.

She had buried the love of her life and promptly left New York to grieve in private at a small villa in the south of Italy.

On her return to New York, she threw herself wholeheartedly into the social scene, treating the multitudes of young men who courted her with complete ruthlessness.

She never saw any man for longer than a few weeks, and never ever invited them into the home that she and Roger had shared.

This was how she now found herself in the perfect position to understand what Lee was going through.

She reached a hand out and gently caressed his cheek.

"It's ok Lee, really it is." She smiled at him. "Just do me a favor and make sure that you let her know how you feel about her, and do it soon, before the opportunity passes you by."

She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before turning and walking up the stairs to Darry's room. Lee didn't know what to say.

He had caught a glimpse of the profound sadness in her eyes and wondered what it was that could possibly have broken the heart of a woman who seemed so self-assured.

Ashley gave Sam an incredulous look as she finished speaking.

"Oh come on Sam, do you really expect me to believe that?" She scoffed. "More like Lee was throwing a little temper tantrum because he couldn't have everything his own way.

That man is a spoiled brat!" Just talking about Lee was causing Ashley's temper to surface again. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about him any more, it just gets me mad."

She poured herself a coffee and grabbed another mug for Sam, deciding that she would offer the other woman an olive branch; she was a good friend of Maddie's after all.


	25. Chapter 25

Maddie hugged Sam tightly at the airport on Sunday morning, telling her she would see her in two weeks when she came back to pack up her apartment and put in her notice at the firm.

Sam waved as she disappeared from view and Maddie turned to where Maverick, Ashley and Darry were waiting for her.

"How about we head out to the new house and take a look at what needs to be done first." Ashley suggested.

God knows she could do with the distraction.

Nobody had seen Lee since their argument the previous morning and she was beginning to feel concerned despite her best efforts to force herself not to care.

"Great idea Ashley." Maverick agreed. "It's a beautiful day, maybe we could head down the beach for a swim while we're there.

Why don't you girls head on out to the house and Darry and I will go get the swimming gear."

"Sounds great honey." Maddie smiled at him as she got into Ashley's car and watched him drive off in her Porsche.

"Told you I'd never get to drive it again once he got his hands on it." She grinned at Ashley as they headed in the opposite direction.

"Ashley, please be careful. Maybe we should just leave this to the professionals."

Maddie pleaded with her friend as she held the ladder steady while Ashley climbed onto the roof to survey the extent of the damage.

"Stop stressing Maddie, I'm fine." Ashley laughed as she tested the strength of the section of roof she was going to walk on.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be and besides, we need to know what we're dealing with to make sure that the roofing guys don't try to rip us off."

Gingerly she put her full weight onto the tiles, poised to jump back on the ladder if they gave way.

The roof held easily and she stood upright and gave Maddie a wave before disappearing from sight into the middle of the roof.

On first inspection, it seemed that a fair portion of the roof was still in good condition; only a few damaged parts would need to be replaced.

The view from the roof was absolutely spectacular and Ashley paused to gaze out across the uninterrupted vista of the ocean.

Lost in her thoughts, she found her mind wandering back to Lee.

She almost felt bad that she had spoken so harshly to him, but he didn't have the right to tell her what to do or to pass judgment on her.

Sam's words were still echoing in her mind. Could it be that Lee's erratic behavior had been because he was fighting the fact that he had feelings for her?

She shook her head, dismissing the thought as pure fantasy and turned to walk back towards the ladder, waving to Maddie as she went.

Ashley had nearly made it back to the edge of the roof when Maddie head a sickening cracking sound and to her horror, her friend let out a scream as she vanished from view through the collapsing roof.

Maddie took the stairs two at a time, racing to reach her friend. She had phoned the ambulance and help was on the way.

"Please be breathing, please be breathing." She chanted to herself as she ran into the bedroom underneath the area where the roof had given way.

She could see a leg sticking out from under the rubble, the ankle twisted at a nasty angle.

Maddie began clawing her way through the debris to reach Ashley, throwing tiles and wooden beams behind her in her haste.

She managed to uncover Ashley's face and chest and with relief found that her friend was still breathing, though it seemed labored.

Ashley was mercifully unconscious. There was a small cut above her left eyebrow and her right arm was pinned at an awkward angle above her head.

Maddie decided it was probably best not to try and move her, and sat down close to her friend, praying for the ambulance to arrive swiftly.

She heard a car pull up and rushed to the window.

"Mav, don't let Darry come up here." She yelled at him out of the window. "There's been an accident and Ashley's pretty badly hurt. I've called the ambulance."

Maverick appeared in the doorway in record time. He had sent Darry to the end of the driveway to direct the ambulance in when it arrived.

"Jesus Christ, Ashley." He breathed as he took in the scene confronting him. "What the hell happened?"

"She was on the roof, and it just gave way and she, she, she just disappeared." Maddie began to sob as the shock of what she had witnessed hit her hard.

Maverick dropped to the floor beside her and checked Ashley's vital signs. Her pulse was still strong, which was a good sign, though she seemed to be having some difficulty breathing.

He wrapped his arm around Maddie's shoulder, pulling her close to him.

"It'll be ok honey, the ambulance will be here any minute." He comforted her. "I'll get them to take Ashley to the Base Hospital, they'll take good care of her. Everything will be just fine, you'll see."

"I should have made her listen to me Mav." Maddie cried. "I told her I didn't think the roof was safe, but she went up anyway."

"Honey, Ashley will do what Ashley wants to do no matter what anybody tells her." Maverick soothed. "This isn't anyone's fault, it was just an accident."

He heard the approaching wail of the ambulances siren and rushed downstairs to meet them.

The next half hour went by in a blur. Ashley still hadn't regained consciousness.

The ambulance officers gently moved her from under the rubble, telling Maddie and Maverick that it looked like she had a dislocated shoulder, some broken ribs and a badly broken ankle.

Apart from that, they couldn't say much about the extent of any other injuries.

Maverick instructed them to take her to the base hospital, and he would meet them there.

He phoned ahead to get Tom to clear everything and to have a medical team waiting for their arrival.

They agreed that they would say Ashley was Maverick's cousin to avoid any problems getting her admitted.

He then gently guided Maddie out of the house and into the car where Darry was waiting for them and headed directly for the base.

They sat in the hospital lounge waiting for news. Ashley had been in surgery for about an hour, and they hadn't been told anything about her condition.

Karen had taken Darry back to the boy's house.

He was extremely upset as he had grown very attached to Ashley and the hospital waiting lounge was not a suitable place for him to be.

Maverick had tried phoning Lee a number of times, but his calls went straight through to his message service.


	26. Chapter 26

Lee reluctantly opened the front door to his house, dreading the confrontation that he knew would be coming.

He knew he had to apologize to Ashley for his appalling behavior, he just didn't know exactly how he was going to do it.

He didn't remember a lot about the last twenty four hours. At least the alcohol had stopped him thinking about how badly he had screwed things up for a short amount of time.

He had woken up in a strange motel room, not having a clue how he had gotten there. He groaned and rolled over to find a blonde woman passed out in the bed next to him.

He had absolutely no idea who she was or what he might have done with her, and he didn't want to stick around to find out.

His head pounding, Lee quietly got dressed, grabbed his things and settled the bill for the room.

Half an hour later, he was back on the base, kicking himself for having been such an idiot.

It was clear to him now what he wanted, he just hoped that he hadn't completely ruined his chances to be with Ashley.

Lee didn't want to wake up trying to remember the name of the girl in the bed with him. He wanted to wake up next to Ashley, not just once, but every morning.

Sam had been right. He was in love with her and he had been too scared to admit it. He just hoped that she would be willing to give him a second chance.

He stopped in surprise when he saw Karen in the lounge room comforting Darry.

The little guy was visibly upset about something.

"What's going on Karen?" He asked as he walked into the room.

"Lee, thank goodness. Have you spoken to Maverick yet?" Karen asked him.

"No, why? What's happened?" Lee started to get concerned.

"There's been an accident Lee." Karen spoke softly. "Ashley's in surgery now. Maddie and Maverick are over at the Base Hospital waiting for new…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Lee had already run straight back out the front door, letting it slam behind him.

A few short minutes later, Lee skidded to a halt in the waiting room and rushed to where Maverick was sitting, still comforting Maddie.

"Mav, what's going on? Where is she, is she going to be ok?" The questions tumbled out of his mouth, an expression of blind panic on his face.

"Lee, I've been trying to call you." Maverick put a hand on his partners shoulder, gently pushing him down into a seat next to them.

"She's still in surgery, the doctor's haven't been out to see us yet." He spoke calmly, and then proceeded to fill Lee in on what had happened and what they knew so far.

"We had a fight yesterday Mav." Lee despaired when Maverick finished telling him about the accident.

"I was angry and I said some things I regretted. What if I don't get the chance to make that right?"

"You'll get the chance Lee." Maverick soothed. "Do you really think Ashley would let you piss her off and then let you get away with it that easily?

She'll pull through this just so she can give you a piece of her mind."

That brought a smile from both Lee and Maddie.

Footsteps in the corridor had them all on their feet as the doctor entered the room.

"Captain Mitchell?" He asked.

"That's me." Maverick answered stepping forward.

"Your cousin is stable. She came through the surgery well. We've had to pin her ankle and reset her shoulder. She has three broken ribs and had some internal bleeding, but we've got that under control.

Our biggest concern at this stage is the fact that she still hasn't regained consciousness. Scans show that her brain function hasn't been impaired, but her body just isn't ready to wake up yet.

Sometimes the body will place itself into a self induced coma as a result of a serious trauma, however we're reasonably confident that she'll come around in her own good time.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to another patient. You can go in and see her as soon as the nurses have her settled in post-op." The doctor excused himself and strode from the room.

Quietly, all three of them crept into the room where Ashley had been settled.

Maddie's hand flew to her mouth and tears started to form in her eyes as soon as she saw her friend.

Ashley's leg was in traction and she was hooked up to numerous drips and monitors.

Her arm had been strapped across her chest and bandages were visible protruding from under her hospital gown where her ribs had been taped and where the doctors had performed surgery.

She was deathly pale and there was no movement at all. Maddie buried her head in Mavericks chest and quietly wept.

Lee felt the strength drain from his body as he looked down at the woman he loved lying helplessly in the hospital bed.

It took everything he had not to lift her into his arms and hold her close.

Maverick pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and motioned for Lee to sit. Lee did as he was told and took Ashley's free hand in his.

It scared him that it felt so cold.

"Lee, I think I should get Maddie home, she's still in shock." Maverick whispered to Lee. "Will you be ok here on your own for a while?"

Lee smiled at his partner.

"I'll be fine Mav. She's alive and that's the main thing." He said.

"I'll come back a little later and sit with her so you can go get something to eat and some rest if you like." Maverick offered.

"Thanks Mav, but I'm not leaving her. What if she wakes up while I'm gone?" Lee said, common sense having long since gone out the window.

"Ok, but I'm still going to bring something for you to eat, otherwise we'll end up with both of you in here." Maverick told him.

"Thanks Mav, you go take care of your girl now." Lee didn't even see them leave; his eyes hadn't left Ashley since he had come into the room.

Maverick sighed wearily as he quietly closed the bedroom door.

Maddie had fallen asleep in his arms. He had managed to get her to drink a sweetened cup of tea to help her overcome the after effects of the shock.

He leaned against the hallway wall for a moment, closing his eyes.

He could still see Ashley buried under all that debris.

He rubbed his eyes and headed downstairs to check on Darry and to make some sandwiches to take to Lee.


	27. Chapter 27

It was five days before Ashley regained consciousness.

The nurses gave up on trying to get rid of Lee. They set up a temporary cot beside her bed for him to sleep in as he continued to stubbornly refuse to leave her side.

Maverick had even convinced them to make sure that he was fed, because he was sure that if somebody didn't make Lee eat, he would have just starved sitting there staring at Ashley

Maverick was covering both their work loads while Maddie took over looking after Darry and making sure the house was in order and that Maverick had a hot meal to come home to and clean uniforms.

Any spare time they had was spent at the hospital with Lee, watching over Ashley.

Ashley's mind was clouded with fog.

She was sure she could hear a voice speaking quietly to her, and she tried to focus on the direction it was coming from so that she could find her way out of the mist.

Lee, it was Lee that she could hear talking to her. His words were becoming clearer, he sounded upset.

"Please come back to me Ashley. I can't lose you. Not now, when I've just found you."

He sounded like he was on the verge of tears and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

Lee felt the slight pressure on his hand and held his breath as he watched Ashley's eyes flutter open and focus on him.

Then she smiled.

Ten days later Ashley was cleared to come home from hospital.

The nurses all heaved a sigh of relief as Lee pushed her through the front doors in a wheelchair.

Between the two of them, Ashley and Lee had managed to drive the hospital staff clear around the bend and halfway back again.

Lee had developed a bad habit of appearing at all hours of the day and night, half scaring the nurses to death as he seemed to materialize from nowhere when they went to take Ashley's obs.

Ashley, for her part, was bored witless, so she took to pulling little pranks on the nurses, such as pressing her call button to bring them running, only to pretend to be fast asleep when they got there.

She also enjoyed hiding her observation charts under the blankets, or adding little comments to the doctor's notes suggesting that she be given an extra serving of chocolate ice cream with dinner.

In the end, the nurses took to leaving the charts on the other side of the room so that she couldn't get to them.

This wasn't very effective because as soon as Lee showed up, he would join in the little game and make notes of his own.

His favorite addition was one instructing the nurses to allow a certain Captain Sanders to take over giving Ms Kazanski her sponge baths.

This one actually earned him a slap both from Ashley and from the Matron.

While they hadn't actually spoken about it, Ashley sensed the shift in their relationship, and accepted Lee's attentions without question or argument.

Darry had made a welcome home banner and Maverick helped him string it across the front of the verandah.

It was the first thing Ashley saw as Lee gently lifted her out of the car and carried her into the house. Both the boys had taken three weeks leave starting today.

Maverick intended to accompany Maddie back to New York to help her pack up her apartment and organize transport and storage for her furniture.

Lee wanted to take care of Ashley.

Darry was due to go on a two week school camp and not even the offer of a trip to New York was going to bring about a change of heart from him,

so Maverick organized flights for himself and Maddie for the day after Darry left for camp.

Ashley smiled as Lee carried her through the front door and she saw her friends waiting to welcome her home.

"Gee, maybe I'll have to fall through roofs more often if this is the treatment I can expect." She joked as Lee helped her settle on the lounge.

"Don't you dare." Maddie warned her. "I think I aged ten years in two seconds that day."

Ashley laughed, wincing a little as her ribs were still tender.

"I promise you Maddie, next time I'll leave it to the professionals." She told her friend. "No more daredevil stuntwoman stuff for me." She declared.

It was good to be home.


	28. Chapter 28

Tara turned the heat down on the stove and went to answer the knock she had just heard at the front door.

"Hello stranger." Jillian grinned at her.

"Jill, this is a surprise, what brings you here?" Tara asked, hugging her friend and ushering her into the house.

"I realized how much I missed you guys when we spoke the other week and I was between jobs, so I thought why not come and visit Tara and Jim." Jillian gushed.

"Well, it's great to see you. How long are you in town for? You will be staying here with us won't you?" Tara reached for Jillian's small suitcase and started to walk toward the guest room.

"If you'll have me and it's not too much trouble." Jillian answered. "I haven't really decided how long I'll hang around for. Probably just a few days.

You know me, busy, busy, busy. My agents got so much lined up for me." Jillian tossed her long blonde locks flippantly.

"Well you're welcome to stay for as long as you like." Tara told her kindly. "It'll be great having you around and I'm sure Darry will be thrilled to see you."

"Do you think Maverick would have a problem with that?" Jillian asked Tara. "I mean, it's been a while and we didn't exactly part on the best of terms."

"Jill, you're the boy's mother, you have a right to see him. I'm sure Mav will be fine." Tara wished she felt as confident about that as she sounded.

"Oh hi Tara" Maddie said brightly as she answered the front door. "Come to visit the patient have you?"

"Hi Maddie. That, and I need to talk to Maverick about something." Tara answered cryptically.

Maddie wondered if there was some sort of problem, but shrugged it off. Mav would let her know what was going on later.

She showed Tara through to the backyard where Ashley was sitting comfortably on a sun lounge watching Maverick and Lee take part in a spirited game of tag with Darry.

Lee was it, and Maverick and Darry were having a great time trying to avoid being tipped.

Mav spotted the girls coming out the back door and grabbed Maddie around the waist, swinging her around in front of him just in time to avoid being tagged by Lee.

"Hey Mitchell, you don't play fair." Lee complained as Maverick let Maddie go and took off across the yard.

"Come on Lee, since when have there been any rules in our version of tag?" Maverick laughed as he watched Darry climbing up the big oak tree in the back yard to hide from Lee.

Maddie smiled at Tara and Ashley.

"Sometimes I wonder who the kid is around here." She said, amused.

"I think we have three of them." Ashley commented. "It's just that two of them are taller than the other one. How are you Tara?"

"I'm good thanks Ashley, how's the recovery coming along?" Tara asked.

"Slowly, thanks for asking." Ashley told her ruefully.

"I can't wait until I can get back onto my feet again. The doctor says another week and my shoulder will be strong enough for me to get around on crutches.

I must say though, not being able to walk does have its advantages. Watch this." She grinned at her friends.

"Oh Lee." She called out, winking at the girls as he came running at the sound of her voice.

"I'm getting a little bit hot sitting here in the sun, would you mind moving me to the other sun lounge over there, it's a bit shadier."

"No problem, my lady." Lee said as he gently lifted her up and carried her to the other sun lounge.

He then made sure that she had enough pillows and went to fetch her a fresh drink, effectively ending the game of tag.

Ashley gave the girls a wicked little grin.

"Nothing like having your own personal slave, especially one that looks as good as he does." She laughed, watching Lee return with her drink.

"Ashley, you are an evil woman." Tara laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day that Lee would be waiting hand and foot on any woman.

I've got to hand it to you Ashley, I don't know how you did it, but I like it."

"Hi Tara." Maverick puffed as he joined them, stealing a mouthful from Maddie's drink.

"Hey hotshot, go get your own." Maddie teased him as she snatched her drink back.

"Oh come on honey, you're not going to make me walk all the way inside to get a drink when you've got a perfectly good one here are you?"

He gazed at her pleadingly, one arm encircling her waist while trying to coax the can out of Maddie's hand with the other.

"Nice try Mitchell, but the puppy dog eyes are not going to work this time." Maddie laughed, just as Lee snuck up behind her and snatched the can out of her grasp, tossing it to his partner.

"Here you go Mav, you looked like you could do with a little bit of help there." He said grinning cheekily.

"Thanks mate, I owe you one." Maverick grinned back and took a long gulp from them can.

"I swear this is a conspiracy." Maddie complained, sighing as she turned and walked back inside.

"You want a drink Tara?" She asked.

"Love one, thanks Maddie." Tara said before turning to Maverick.

"Mav, could I have a quick word to you in private?" She asked him.

"Sure Tara, no problem." Maverick was curious. He wondered what Darry and Tim had done this time.

They moved away to stand under the oak tree as Lee settled himself down gently behind Ashley on her sun lounge, wrapping his arms around her as she leaned back against him.

"So what have the boys gotten up to this time." Maverick grinned at Tara expectantly.

"It's not the boys Mav." Tara said, her tone serious. "It's Jillian, she's back in town and staying with Jim and I. She wants to see Darry."

Tara watched Maverick visibly stiffen at the mention of his ex girlfriends name.

"No way, she's not going anywhere near him." He said tightly. "She made her choice when she decided that she didn't want to be a mother any more and abandoned him."

"Come on Mav, everyone makes mistakes, and she's regretting the way that she handled things." Tara said pleadingly. "Besides, don't you think it's only fair that Darry has a chance to know who his mother is."

"He's better of not knowing her." Maverick said bitterly. "I said no Tara, and I meant it. I don't want to talk about it any more."

Maverick turned and strode toward the house, leaving Tara standing by herself under the tree.

Maddie had been watching them talk and recognized the change in Maverick's demeanor straight away.

She could see he was very upset as the back door slammed behind him when he entered the house.

She walked over to where Tara was still standing and handed her a drink.

"What was that all about?" She asked her probingly.

"I think I'll leave it up to Maverick to tell you." Tara was obviously shaken by what had just taken place.

She took a mouthful of the drink Maddie had handed her and smiled at her ruefully.

"Thanks for this Maddie, but I think I'd better go. Tell Mav to give me a call when he calms down a little." She said. "Oh, and tell him I'm sorry, I was only trying to help."

Tara waved to Lee and Ashley as she let herself out the side gate.

Lightly knocking on the closed bedroom door, Maddie gently turned the handle and entered the bedroom to find Maverick sitting on the edge of their bed, his head in his hands.

She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Mav, what's wrong honey?" She asked him gently.

He looked up at her and she could see the turmoil raging in his eyes.

"Jillian's back." He stated coldly.

"What, your ex?" Maddie asked surprised. "Darry's mother?" She was astounded.

Maverick had told her about how Jillian had left them, so her suddenly turning up was totally unexpected.

"Yes, and she wants to see Darry." Maddie wrapped her arms around him, letting him lean against her while he tried to work through this turmoil of emotions.

"And I take it you said no?" Maddie asked him gently.

Maverick stood up suddenly, taking Maddie by surprise and almost knocking her off balance.

"Hell yes, I said no." His voice was raised slightly. "She's not getting anywhere near him. She's only back here because she wants something, I just know it.

Sneaky conniving little bitch couldn't lie straight in bed." He was almost seething with anger by this stage.

Maddie stood up and began to massage his shoulders, trying to get him to calm down a little.

"Honey, that's your call." She told him soothingly. "You have court appointed sole custody of Darry and Jillian revoked all her rights as a parent,

so if you don't want her to have contact with him, then that's all there is to it."

Maverick reached over his shoulder, placing his hand on top of hers.

"What did I do to deserve you, Ms Harris?" He turned and smiled at her gratefully, his anger dissipating as he looked into her calm blue-gray eyes.

"I don't know, but it must have been something good." She smiled back at him and reached up to give him a gentle kiss.

'Now, stop worrying about her, I can deal with her for you, it's what I'm good at."

He kissed her back, gently at first, but becoming more demanding as things between them heated up.

All thoughts of his ex soon disappeared as he gave in to the burning desire he felt for this amazing, gorgeous woman who understood him so well.

"So how did it go?" Jillian asked Tara as she walked through the front door.

"Not good Jill, I'm afraid." Tara gave her friend an apologetic look. "He's still pretty cut up over everything that happened, and he was adamant that he wasn't going to let you see Darry."

The fact that Maverick was still angry with her was surprisingly good news to Jillian. At least it meant he still felt something, she reasoned.

If Tara had received no reaction from him, she would have been worried.

She had expected that he wouldn't be happy about her wanting to see Darry, but there were ways around that.

Besides, seeing Darry wasn't the main objective here. He was just a means to an end, a way for Jillian to work her way back into Maverick's life.

All she needed was a foot in the door and she could undermine his relationship with the fancy New York Lawyer and win her way back into his heart and home.

She smiled sadly at Tara.

"Don't feel bad about it Tara, Rome wasn't built in a day." She spoke quietly and with emotion.

"What I did to him was reprehensible, and I won't give up until he and Darry both understand how sorry I am for all the hurt I caused."

Tara wrapped her arms around her friend in a comforting hug.

Jillian smiled to herself, those acting classes she had taken were really starting to pay off.


	29. Chapter 29

Ashley sat quietly on the lounge, watching Lee as he busied himself clearing away the dishes and cups they had just used for dinner.

It was almost as if he had turned into a different person, and while she was enjoying his attentions,

she couldn't help wondering what it was that had brought about such a dramatic change in his behavior.

She took a deep breath, deciding the only way she was going to find out was to ask him.

"Lee." She spoke softly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because if I don't at least rinse them, they'll stink in the morning." He answered her with a smile.

"That's not what I mean." Ashley's tone was serious. "Why are you doing all this?"

"Doing all what?" Lee hesitated in the doorway.

"You know, taking care of me, being so kind and gentle." Ashley continued. "Please don't get me wrong, I really appreciate it.

I just hope it's not out of some sense of misguided guilt." She lowered her eyes, unable to meet his piercing green gaze.

"Why would you think that I feel guilty?" He asked her, a little confused.

"Well, we did have a big fight that morning, and then I went and fell through a roof while you were missing in action.

I don't know, I just thought that maybe you were being so nice because you thought you were somehow responsible for what happened."

Lee had walked back to where she was sitting and put the dishes back on the coffee table. He sat down facing Ashley and took both her hands in his.

"Ashley, when Karen told me about your accident, the only thing I felt was terrified." He gazed at her steadily as he spoke.

"I knew that I had royally screwed things up between us, and now here I was, facing the prospect that maybe I wouldn't get another chance to tell you how wonderful I think you are.

I know I acted like an idiot. It's because I was scared to face up to the fact that I really cared for someone, that I had lost all control of the situation.

Ashley, the thought of losing you only made me realize one thing and that is that I am in love with you."

He gently pushed the hair from the side of her face as he watched her closely.

Ashley was completely lost for words.

She knew that something had changed in their relationship, but she had never suspected for a minute that he returned her feelings.

Hesitantly, she leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his before looking directly into his hypnotic green eyes.

"You would have to be the most confusing, frustrating, difficult man I have ever met Lee Sanders." She whispered against his lips. "And I love you too."

"You forgot irresistible." Lee grinned at her before passionately capturing her mouth in a greatly overdue heartfelt kiss.

The latch clicked softly as Maddie turned the key in the door of her New York Apartment, letting it swing silently open in front of them.

Maverick was immediately struck by the thought that had he walked into a page from Home Beautiful.

There wasn't a thing out of place, the apartment giving an air of understated elegance.

"Wow Maddie, this place is gorgeous." He whispered, letting out a low whistle.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Maddie shrugged nonchalantly. "If you like this sort of thing. Personally, I've always found it a little bit too perfect. I think a home should at least look like someone lives there."

"So why didn't you personalize it a little bit?" Maverick asked her. "You know, give it some warmth."

"I guess I didn't really spend that much time here, so it never occurred to me." Maddie mused. "It doesn't matter now, it's not my home anymore."

She turned and gave him a seductive smile. "Now Captain, can I interest you in a personalized tour of the bedroom?"

The sound of somebody knocking urgently on the door forced Maddie to rise reluctantly from her sleep.

She frowned at the insistent banging, glancing affectionately at Maverick still soundly sleeping beside her.

She slipped on a white silk wrap and glanced at the clock. Who on earth would be at the door at 7.30am?

More to the point, who even knew she was here? She padded quietly across the tiled floor to answer the door.

"Alright, okay already." She moaned as she unfastened the locks. "I'm awake, I'm awake."

She wrenched the door open and recoiled in surprise when she found herself face to face with her ex boyfriend.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" She asked in surprise. She hadn't seen him since the night she had told him it was over between them.

"Aren't you happy to see me gorgeous?" He gave her a disarming smile as he stepped into the apartment.

Before Maddie knew what was happening, he quickly pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss.

"God I've missed you." He whispered hoarsely as Maddie pulled away from him, shoving his arms aside.

"Alex, what the hell do you think you're doing?" She glared at him indignantly. "It's bad enough you show up here unannounced, hammering my door down first thing in the morning,

but you seem to think it's ok to just pick things up where we left off."

"I wouldn't have had to bang on the door if you hadn't changed the locks, I've still got my keys." He grinned at her sheepishly.

"I know, why do you think I had the locks changed?" She shot back at him. "More to the point, I've been away. How the hell did you know that I would even be here?"

"I paid the doorman to let me know when you got back." He shuffled a little, unable to meet her cold gaze.

Maddie made a mental note to make sure the doorman was fired.

"Well, it's been lovely to see you Alex, but you have to leave now." She turned her back on him dismissively.

"You and I were over a long time ago and I have no interest in revisiting past mistakes."

He grabbed her by the arm and turned her roughly to face him.

"It's over when I say it's over." His face was menacingly close to hers.

"Alex, let go of my arm, you're hurting me." She pleaded with him.

"Maddie, we belong together." He told her, his tone serious and his face determined.

"You never gave me a chance to say what it was that I wanted when you left. One minute everything was ok, next you were telling me it was over and you were gone.

I love you, even if I didn't always show it. Can't you give me another chance, I promise it'll be better this time around."

"Mister, I suggest you take your hands off my lady right now or your pitching career will be over in approximately thirty seconds time." A hard, cold voice spoke from behind them.

Alex released Maddie's arm in surprise.

Maverick had woken to the sound of raised voices coming from the living room.

Hastily he had pulled on his jeans as he realized that one of the voices was Maddie's and she sounded upset.

He felt the anger rise in him when he saw a man gripping her arm tightly.

Now that he had the element of surprise, he moved quickly to her side and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.

"Are you ok Honey?" He asked her, concern showing in his eyes.

She rubbed her arm where Alex had grabbed her, red marks showing where his fingers had dug in deeply.

"Who the hell is this Madison?" Alex spat at her angrily.

"Not that it's any of your business, Alex." She threw back at him. "But this is my boyfriend, now don't you think it's time for you to leave?"

She looked pointedly towards the door.

"You're seeing someone else?" Alex cried indignantly.

"Yeah mate, she is, and I don't intend sharing her with anyone." Maverick advanced towards him.

"Now, like the lady said, it's time for you to leave, or do I need to help you find the doorway?"

"You'll be back Madison." Alex threw at her as he beat a hasty retreat through the door, narrowly missing being hit by it as Maverick kicked it shut behind him.

"Did he hurt you, honey?" Maverick asked, gently lifting Maddie's arm to examine the light bruising that was starting to come through.

"I should have whipped his arse for even touching you." He said angrily.

"Mav, that would have only resulted in you going up on assault charges." Maddie soothed him. "Guys like Alex are all talk, but underneath it all, they are really just scared little boys.

I'm not sure what I ever saw in him in the first place."

"Well, I'm just glad I was here." Maverick locked his eyes with hers. "Promise me you won't go answering the door again unless you know who's on the other side."

"I promise." She smiled at him. "Thanks for coming to my rescue." She reached up and gave him a gentle kiss.

"No problem." He smiled back at her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close.

"Now, should I expect any more broken hearted ex boyfriends to show up on the doorstep while we're here? Maybe I should have brought my side arm with me."

Maddie laughed as the image of Maverick shooting Alex in the backside entered her mind.


	30. Chapter 30

"Come now Maddie, you couldn't have really expected that it would be as easy as you walking in here and telling us that you quit because you've found yourself a new play thing."

Mark Schubert thumped the meeting table angrily when Maddie had finished speaking.

She had left Maverick to explore New York's better shopping districts while she tackled the one thing she had been dreading, handing in her resignation at her firm.

"Calm down Mark," Andrew Mason threw a warning glance at his partner. "Getting all emotional about this is not going to resolve anything."

He turned to Maddie with a concerned expression on his face.

"Now Maddie," He continued. "Mark is right in as much as you are not just some legal secretary or junior intern who would be easily replaced.

You are an integral part of this company and your loss will have serious repercussions on our business. Are you sure that you won't reconsider?

Maybe we can come to an arrangement of sorts that would suit us all." Andrew had always been the voice of reason amongst the three of them.

While Mark and Maddie threw themselves head first into every challenge with passion, Andrew liked to sit back and carefully consider all the options before deciding which course of action to take.

"You barely know this guy, and you want to throw away your whole career for him?" Mark stared at her incredulously as he restlessly paced the boardroom floor.

"I know him well enough to know that I love him and that I can't bear the thought of him not being a part of my like." Maddie retorted defensively.

"Maybe he could move to New York." Andrew suggested. "I'm sure the company could see it's way clear to helping with his expenses and finding him a new job."

"Andrew, that's a really generous offer but it won't work. He's a pilot with the navy so moving here is out of the question." Maddie replied, giving Andrew a wry smile.

"I would never have picked you as someone who would go all weak at the knees for a man in uniform." Mark almost spat at her.

"Mark, that's enough." Andrew told him sternly. "If you can't conduct yourself in a civil fashion, then I suggest you leave and Maddie and I will continue this meeting without you."

"Alright, I'll just sit here and shut up then shall I?" Mark said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Didn't know that you knew how to shut up Mark." Maddie smiled at him sweetly.

"Ok you two, this is not achieving anything." Andrew sighed in exasperation.

"Maddie, whatever the outcome, we couldn't possibly consider you leaving for at least six weeks,

you are well aware of the case load you are currently handling and it would take at least that long to find a replacement for you that would be even close to adequate."

"Andrew, I don't want to leave you in the lurch, so I'm happy to work out a notice period for you." Maddie told him.

A part of her did feel guilty for suddenly turning up and announcing that she wanted to leave.

She could understand why Mark was angry with her.

"Perhaps you would consider not resigning altogether, and opening up a new office for the business in Miramar." Andrew suggested.

"That way, we could keep the company intact, you could be where you wanted to be, and we could still call on you for assistance here from time to time." He mused.

"You know, you might be on to something there Andrew." Mark was suddenly a lot calmer.

"We've talked about expanding the business, and having an office based in a Navy town would present a lot of opportunities."

Maddie could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes as he imagined tapping into the lucrative defense forces budget.

"I'll give it some thought Andrew, it sounds like a good plan." Maddie smiled at him.

She hadn't really wanted to leave the firm she had worked so hard to become partner at, she just didn't want to deal with the sort of clients and cases that New York presented,

so this could be the ideal way to have the best of both worlds.

Two weeks later, Ashley was hobbling around the bottom story of the Oceanside house on her crutches.

Her ankle was feeling much better and her shoulder strong enough to support herself for short periods of time.

She was pleased with the progress that had been made so far. The roof had been completely replaced and the kitchen had been demolished and the new one was almost completed.

The carpet had been ripped up and the floors sanded, ready for polishing.

Behind one of the plaster walls in the living room, one of the workmen had discovered an old stone fireplace.

Ashley had instructed them to demolish the wall so that she could see if it was worth restoring, and it had been.

The wall was remodeled to show off the fireplace and she had a new mantle installed that matched the staircase banisters.

The upstairs bathroom had been completely gutted and the plumbers had been to install new piping throughout the house.

Built in wardrobes had been installed in all the upstairs bedrooms, with a walk in robe and an ensuite in the master bedroom.

Ashley smiled to herself, thinking how happy Maddie would be with the place when she got back from New York.

She jumped a little as two strong arms unexpectedly encircled her from behind.

"Thought I might find you out here gorgeous." Lee smiled down at her, dropping a gentle kiss on her lips. "How did you get here?"

"I called a taxi, of course." Ashley informed him, she wouldn't be able to drive for some time yet, and was quickly to getting to know the local taxi drivers quite well.

"I could have brought you over when I finished work." He scolded her gently.

"I appreciate you concern, sweetheart." Ashley gave him and impish smile. "But I am perfectly capable of dialing the numbers on a phone and booking a taxi.

Besides, if I'd waited all day for you to get home I would have been bored silly."

"Point taken, I'll try to stop wrapping you in cotton wool." He conceded, his gaze wandering over the living room taking in the changes.

"Wow, this place is really starting to take shape." He commented.

"So, where's your shadow?" Ashley looked around curiously.

"Picking Darry up from Tim's place." Lee told her. "Should be interesting if he runs into Jillian. I was almost tempted to go with him so I could watch the fireworks,

but I didn't want to be an accessory to murder if he decides to strangle her. You know, if I'm not there, then I can't be called as a witness." He joked.

"I think Maddie would call that plausible deniability." Ashley said. "Now, would you like to see how the upstairs rooms are coming along?"

"Have any of the beds been delivered yet?" Lee cheekily raised a suggestive eyebrow.

"Well you won't know if you don't come and have a look, now will you." Ashley gave him an inviting smile and hobbled towards the staircase.


	31. Chapter 31

"Hi Mav, would you like to come in while I call the boys?" Tara smiled at Maverick as she opened the door to him.

Maverick hesitated a little, not sure if he was in the right frame of mind for a confrontation with Jillian.

He had arrived home two days before and was missing Maddie already.

They had spent a wonderful fortnight together in New York, playing tourist and relaxing, just enjoying each other's company.

Maddie had agreed to stay on for six weeks to train up the new recruits they had hired before returning to Miramar to set up the Californian branch of their firm.

She had been pleased with the compromise she had come to with her business partners and was looking forward to the challenge of setting up the new branch.

Still, Jim and Tara were his friends as well, and he wasn't going to give Jillian the satisfaction if interfering with that, so he smiled at Tara and followed her into the house.

He had been unsure of what to do when Darry had asked if he could go to Tim's to play, knowing that Jillian would be there and

that he wouldn't be able to stop her from speaking to him, but Maddie had encouraged him to let Darry go.

She pointed out that his problem with Jillian was his, and that he shouldn't let it get in the way of Darry's friendship with Tim.

He supposed that with Jillian being in town, it was probably inevitable that she would find a way to see him.

At least if it was under Jim and Tara's supervision it was under his control to a certain extent.

He heard the boys squealing from the backyard as they walked through the house.

At the sight of Jillian's long blonde hair, Maverick felt himself begin to tense up.

He told himself that he had to relax a little; Maddie had made him promise not to do anything stupid because she wasn't there to bail him out if he did.

He took a deep breath and grinned at Jim as he got up from the sun lounge he had been seated in to greet him.

"Hey Mav, how was the Big Apple?" Jim shook his hand and offered him a beer.

"Thanks mate, it was fantastic." Maverick told him enthusiastically. "I'd never been there before, and Maddie knows the place like the back of her hand,

so she took me to all the best places."

"And where is the delectable Ms Harris?" Jim asked curiously.

"She had some loose ends to tie up in New York before heading back here to set up the new branch." Maverick explained, a forlorn expression on his face.

"She'll be back before you know it mate." Jim laughed. "Boy, you really do have it bad for this one, don't you?"

Jillian had been standing quietly to one side, watching her ex closely and listening in tot their conversation.

God, he looks great, she thought to herself. Better than when she had left, is that was at all possible.

She frowned a little at the mention of Maverick's girlfriend, but was interested to hear that she didn't return with him.

This little turn of events would provide her with a most welcome window of opportunity.

She adopted a demure expression and moved over to where Jim and Maverick were talking.

"Hello Adam." She said quietly, her eyes downcast.

"Hello Jill." He answered her coldly. "I heard you were in town."

"You're looking well." She commented, her hazel eyes grabbing a quick shy glance at him.

"Thanks, that's because I've never been happier." She felt his intense blue eyes almost cut through her as he gave her an even, steely glare.

"Darry, are you ready to go mate?" He called out to his son.

"Please don't rush off on my account Maverick, stay and finish your drink with Jim." Jillian implored.

"Did you tell him who you are?" Maverick asked her, almost dreading the answer.

"I told him Mav." Tara interrupted them. "I thought it was only fair that he knew. Jillian wasn't going to say anything in light of your feelings on the subject."

Tara was trying to make the best of an uncomfortable situation.

"And how did he take it?" He asked, turning to Tara.

"Surprisingly well, actually." Tara told him. "He just shrugged and said that he figured she'd probably turn up one day, and then went and played with Tim."

"Don't think for one minute that this means that I'm ok with you seeing him Jill." He told his ex sharply.

"My feelings about that haven't changed at all, but I'm not going to stop him seeing his mate just because you are here. Why are you here after all this time?"

"Trying to make amends for past mistakes." Jillian looked at him, using the big pleading eyes that used to be able to turn him to mush.

"Don't try that bullshit on me Jill, it's not going to work." Maverick snapped at her harshly.

"Any feelings I had for you died the day you decided you didn't want to be a part of this family any more.

I'll do the best I can to be civil for Darry's sake, but that's as far as it goes. I've moved on Jill, and the sooner you accept that, the better off we'll all be."

"I suppose that's the best I can hope for." Jill 's expression turned sad. "If it helps at all, I really am sorry for what I did to you and Darry.

I would give anything to be able to go back in time and change what happened."

"Well, now that we know where we stand, I'd better be going." Maverick turned his back to her, handing Jim the empty beer bottle.

"Thanks for having him Tara, but we'd better make a move. I'm supposed to be meeting Lee and Ashley out at the new house to check on the progress."

"Can't wait to see the finished product Mav." Tara was glad for the change of subject. "Are you and Maddie going to throw a house warming party?"

"Maybe, I'm sure that she'll want to show off all of Ashley's hard work. I'll let you know.' Maverick smiled at Tara,

feeling bad that she was caught up in all the animosity he felt towards Jillian.

He and Darry left after saying their goodbyes, Maverick leaving without giving Jillian another glance.


	32. Chapter 32

"Do you need any help in there gorgeous?" Lee called through the closed bedroom door where Ashley

was getting ready for their first official date.

"Maybe I could do your dress up or something." He offered, grinning to himself.

"You stay right where you are Lee Sanders." Ashley called back to him.

"I know exactly what kind of help you are offering and if you come in here we are not going to make dinner, let alone the club."

She laughed as she fixed her earrings and slipped on her shoes.

Four weeks had passed and she had finally been allowed to ditch the crutches.

Her ankle was still tender but at least the cast had come off in favor of a support bandage and

she was able to walk short distances without too many problems.

She was really looking forward to this evening.

Over the last few weeks, she and Lee had spent every spare moment together, getting to know each other,

but this would be the first time they had really gone anywhere as a couple.

After a satisfied glance at her reflection in the mirror she opened the door and found the hallway was now empty.

Lee must have gone downstairs to wait for her, she thought to herself as she descended the stairs carefully.

She was met at the bottom with two loud wolf whistles that came from the direction of the living room.

Ashley smiled to herself as she joined the boys for a drink before she and Lee left.

Darry was having a sleepover at Tim's house and Lee had convinced Maverick to join them at the Officers Club later that night.

She did a little twirl as she entered the room.

"Well, do I pass inspection?" She asked them cheekily.

"With flying colors." Maverick told her.

"You look absolutely sensational my love." Lee agreed, his eyes shining as he passed Ashley a glass if wine.

Five minutes later Lee was opening the door of his car for her.

They had arranged to meet Maverick at the club at ten o'clock.

It had taken Lee some work to convince him to come along, but both Lee and Ashley

thought it would do him good to have a night out.

He had spent the last four weeks moping around the house missing Maddie and driving them both around the twist.

Lee pulled into the parking area of the local seafood restaurant and helped Ashley out of the car,

wrapping an arm around her waist after closing her door.

They walked arm in arm through the front doors of the restaurant.

Lee spoke quietly to the Maitre De, who smiled and beckoned them to follow him.

He led them directly through the main part of the restaurant and out a smoked glass door on the other side.

To Ashley's amazement, they walked out on to a small private balcony.

A table had been set beautifully for two and little candles were burning in small recesses carved into the balcony walls.

An open view of the ocean presented itself before her. She could hear the lapping of the waves on the shore below.

A popping champagne cork brought her back to reality and she turned to see lee smiling at her,

his green eyes twinkling mischievously in the candlelight.

"I take it this meets with your approval?" He asked her, pulling her close into his arms.

"Lee, I can't believe you've gone to this much trouble." Ashley exclaimed.

"Well, this is our first official date." He grinned at her.

"I thought that because it took this long to get you to go out with me, I'd better make a good impression."

"Well, Captain Sanders, you have definitely succeeded." Ashley reached up and gave him a gentle kiss.

After a delicious seafood platter, Lee took Ashley's hand and helped her up from the table, pulling her in close.

They could just hear the strains of music from the string quartet that was performing inside the restaurant

as they danced closely in the candlelight.

They spent the next half an hour in comfortable silence, enjoying the warmth and closeness of being in each other's arms.

"So, do you feel up to a visit to the club?" Lee looked down at Ashley with an affectionate smile.

"Well at least this time I'll be going home with the right guy." Ashley quipped, grinning at him cheekily.

Reluctantly, they left their little private sanctuary. Lee settled the bill and they headed for the club.

Maverick dropped Darry at Tara and Jim's place to stay the night, stopping to have a drink with Jim before he headed out.

He didn't notice Jillian standing quietly in the hallway, listening to their conversation as Maverick told Jim

about the confrontation he had had with Maddie's ex in New York.

Jillian smiled to herself as she stored away this little piece of information before heading upstairs and l

ogging on to the Internet to try and track down contact details for Alex Mendoza.

She had what she was looking for in next to no time and dialed his number.

To her surprise, he answered the phone himself. She had been expecting an agent.

"Mr. Mendoza," Jill began. "You don't know me but I believe that we may have a mutual problem in the form of one Madison Harris.

You want her back and I want her gone, so here's my plan…" She had his attention, so she continued quickly.

Maverick had left for the club by the time Jillian finished on the phone.

She quickly changed into a sexy outfit and headed out, calling to Tara as she left that she might be late

and not to wait up for her.

Tara and Jim exchanged a look of concern.

Tara couldn't shake the feeling that her friend was up to no good.


	33. Chapter 33

Maddie stretched in her chair and glanced at her watch.

The numbers were a little blurry and she rubbed her eyes and glanced at it again. Surely it couldn't be 10pm already.

She had been in the office since seven that morning.

Wearily she pushed herself away from the desk and turned off the lights in her office before locking the door.

She had an early start in the morning, but it would be worth it as she planned to catch the red eye flight

to San Diego and surprise Maverick.

She grinned to herself as she imagined the expression on his face as she gently woke him.

God, she missed him so much it hurt. These last few weeks without him had dragged.

They spoke on the phone every day but she ached for his touch. The morning couldn't come quick enough.

Maverick was well on his way to being very drunk when Lee and Ashley arrived at the club,

and appeared to be having a great time chatting away to some blonde that Ashley had never seen before.

Lee took her hand to guide her through the crowd towards the center table where his partner was sitting.

As they approached, the blonde giggled at something Maverick said to her and turned to head towards the bar for more drinks.

Ashley felt Lee's grip on her hand tighten and his body stiffen a little as he came face to face with the blonde woman.

She looked at him in surprise.

"Jillian, what the hell are you doing here?" He demanded, giving the woman a cold glare.

"Oh Lee, it's always such a pleasure to see you." Her tone was sickly sweet.

"And as to why I'm here, last time I checked it's a free country so where I go is none of your business."

"Leave him alone Jill." Lee said threateningly. "He's happy and he doesn't need you screwing with his head right now."

"I will leave if and when Maverick asks me to and not before." She smiled at him but her eyes were cold.

"So I suggest that you mind your own business Lee. Go play with your pretty little redhead.

Hope you brought protection honey, you never know what you might catch from the likes of him."

She tossed her long blonde hair and walked away from Lee and Ashley.

"Bitch." Lee said angrily. "She always was bad news."

"I take it that is Maverick's ex, Darry's mum?" Ashley asked him.

"Yes, and it looks like she's doing a great job of getting Mav drunk to try and get around him too."

Lee watched his partner stumble towards the men's room.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that she doesn't get anywhere near him then." Ashley smiled at him reassuredly.

"Yeah, I guess she can't do too much damage here." Lee agreed. "Now, beautiful lady, would you like to dance?"

He offered his arm to Ashley and led her on to the dance floor.

Jill's mobile phone beeped as she waited to be served at the bar.

She smiled as she read the text message.

"Better work quick, she's on the red eye tomorrow morning. Alex."

Jillian took the glass of wine and the tumbler of scotch from the barman.

With a very slight flick of her wrist, she dropped two small white tablets into the scotch, fixed a smile on her face

and headed back to the table to give Maverick his drink.

About fifteen minutes later Maverick started to feel strange.

He was sure he hadn't had that much to drink, but the room was starting to spin before his eyes.

He had been trying unsuccessfully to get rid of Jillian all evening without causing a scene, and now he was seeing three of her.

He tried to stand but nearly tripped.

Jillian caught him and smiled at the other guys at the table.

"I think this one may have had one too many to drink." She said, laughing. "I'd better see that he gets home safely."

She grabbed her bag and Maverick's flight jacket and steered him out of the club.

Lee and Ashley didn't see them leave.

"Where's Mav?" Lee asked as they came back to the table.

"He had a few too many to drink and headed off." Cowboy yelled over the music.

Nobody thought to mention the blonde woman who had left with him.

Lee and Ashley stayed until the club closed, enjoying their evening.

The last dance was called and Lee pulled Ashley close into his arms, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Now tonight has been much better than the last time I came to this club." Ashley smiled at him.

"I did behave pretty poorly that night, didn't I?" Lee looked at her sheepishly. "I'm just glad you let me have a second chance."

He reached down and captured her mouth in a loving kiss.

"Hey Sanders, the music has stopped." A cheeky voice interrupted their embrace.

"For the love of god, take the girl home so the rest of us don't have to watch."

"Shut up Hollywood." Lee growled as his friend skipped just out of reach.

The house was quiet when they got home.

Lee stopped at Maverick's bedroom door to listen, wanting to make sure that his partner had made it home alright.

He heard Maverick's rhythmic breathing and smiled to himself as he joined Ashley in their room.

She was slipping off her heels and unfastening her earrings and smiled at him in the mirror when he entered.

"Now I believe I offered to help with this dress earlier this evening and you knocked me back."

He murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling the back of her neck.

Ashley turned in his arms to face him and smiled seductively.

"Well, you can do whatever you want with it now." She told him, her fingers fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

Lee groaned and pulled her on to the bed with him, deftly undoing the zipper on her dress at the same time.


	34. Chapter 34

The cab pulled up outside the house at 7.30 on Saturday morning.

Maddie paid the driver and smiled as she walked up the front path. Quietly, she slid her key into the lock and opened the door.

She took off her shoes so that she wouldn't make too much noise on the stairway and crept up to Maverick's room.

She thought briefly of retrieving the water pistols that had been so effective on a previous occasion, but thought better of it.

Maddie turned the handle of the door and entered his room. What she saw next knocked the breath out of her body.

Maverick was sprawled on the bed, obviously naked, covered only by the sheet.

His arm was wrapped around a blonde woman, also obviously naked.

Their clothes were spread around the room as if they had been ripped off in a hurry.

Maddie's hand flew to her mouth and she felt tears begin to sting her eyes.

She was about to beat a hasty retreat when the blonde woman woke and looked directly at her.

She sat up in the bed, pulling the sheet around her and gave Maddie a curious look.

"I'm sorry, are you lost?" Jillian asked her, a small smile playing at her mouth.

"No, I'm sorry." Maddie stammered. "I was just leaving."

"Oh, now I know, you must be Maddie." Jillian looked at her with sympathy. "You weren't supposed to find out like this. I'm Jillian."

Maverick still hadn't stirred.

Maddie backed slowly out of the room, turned and ran blindly down the stairs, bumping heavily into Lee's bedroom door as she passed.

Lee had heard the voices and opened his door just in time to see Maddie run down the stairs.

He called after her but she didn't answer him.

Jillian sauntered out of Maverick's room doing up one of his shirts. She smiled at him sweetly.

"Morning Lee, seems I may have upset somebody." She said as she walked past him into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"Shit, shit, shit, Mitchell." Lee swore as he ran down the stairs after Maddie. "What the hell have you done?"

He found her trying in vain to put her shoes back on while she searched for her car keys in the bowl on the hall table.

She was quietly sobbing.

"Maddie." He said to her quietly. "Maddie, honey, talk to me."

"What is there to say Lee?" The pain in her eyes was evident as Lee watched her distraught face.

"Tell him I hope that he'll be happy, at least he has his family back together now."

"Hang on, where are you going." He put a hand on her arm. "You at least need to give him a chance to explain."

Lee couldn't believe that his partner could do something so stupid, there had to be more to this and he knew from experience what Jillian was capable of.

Maddie shook his hand off as she found the keys to her Porsche.

She had left it at the boys place when she went back to New York as there was little point in taking it with her.

"I'm going home Lee." She told him bitterly. "Please don't try to stop me, I don't know why I was ever naïve enough to believe that this would work in the first place.

Tell Ashley I'll be in touch about the house when I decide what I want to do with it."

With that, she was out the front door and into the car before Lee could decide what to do next.

She took off with a screech, sending bits of the lawn spraying all over the front verandah.

Jillian watched the scene unfold from the top of the stairs and smiled to herself. She retrieved her phone from her bag and dialed a number.

"Alex?" She said softly. "It went even better than we hoped. She's on her way back to New York, you just have to be waiting to give her a shoulder to cry on."

She whispered, listening to his reply.

"No, I didn't actually succeed in getting him to cheat on her, though it wasn't for want of trying, but I am an actress you know.

It wasn't hard to stage the scene and make it look like the real thing."

She finished her conversation and hung the phone up, planning to head back to Maverick's room when she felt a hand grip her arm tightly.

She turned in surprise as Lee was still downstairs.

"I don't know what sort of games you think you are playing at, but I certainly don't appreciate you hurting my friends." Ashley's eyes flashed with anger.

She had overheard every word of Jillian's conversation and had quickly pieced together what was happening.

Jill wrenched her arm out of Ashley's grasp, throwing her a dirty look.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." She tossed her head.

"Besides, what does it matter what you think anyway, you'll be history by nine o'clock when Lee gets sick of you and sends you on your way."

"Ashley won't be going anywhere Jill." Lee's cold voice came from directly behind her.

"Now you had better tell me what the hell is going on right now or you are going to find yourself taking skydiving lessons without a parachute."

Jillian started to lose her nerve as she glanced anxiously from one to the other.

She was just about to make a run for it when Maverick walked into the hallway yawning and rubbing his eyes.

He looked at her for a moment before it registered to him who she was.

"Jill, what the hell are you doing in my house?" He demanded. "And why are you wearing my shirt?"

"Mav, I think you've been set up mate." Lee tried to break it to him gently. "Maddie was just here and she found you in bed with this piece of trash."

He shot Jillian a derisive look.

"You have definitely been set up Maverick." Ashley told him. "I just heard her telling someone called Alex how she had staged the whole thing."

"I don't remember anything from last night." Maverick panicked. "I only had about four or five drinks and then I felt really strange, and after that, there's nothing."

He turned on Jillian.

"What the hell did you do to me. Where's Maddie now? Oh god, she thinks I slept with Jillian? I've got to find her Lee, I've got to talk to her."

"I'd say your charming ex here slipped something into one of your drinks hoping to take advantage of you." Lee said.

"Maddie took off in her car about ten minutes ago. I'm sorry mate, I tried to stop her but she was determined to go."

"Did she say where she was going?" Maverick was starting to feel like he was drowning.

"She said she was going home, so I'm assuming she meant New York." He told him.

Maverick turned to Jillian and suddenly she felt very frightened.

"Are you satisfied now?" He yelled at her. "You've totally screwed up the best thing that has ever happened to me. Get out of my house.

No better still, get out of my town. If I ever see your face again I won't be held responsible for what I might do to you."

Ashley had gone into Mavericks room and picked up Jillian's clothing.

She threw them at her and Jillian beat a hasty retreat down the stairs and out the front door.

She left town that day, without even saying goodbye to Tara and Jim.


	35. Chapter 35

Almost a month had passed and not a word was heard by anybody from Maddie, not even Karen and Tom.

She had changed her mobile phone number and any attempt to contact her through her office met with a stonewall of refusal from whoever answered the phone there.

It was quite obvious that Maddie didn't want to be found.

Maverick and Lee were called out on assignment on ship during the following week, and Ashley and Darry had been alone in the house for about three weeks.

Maverick was inconsolable.

Being on ship, there was little that he could do to track Maddie down and the more time that passed, the more convinced he became that he had lost the love of his life.

Ashley tried to contact Maddie on a number of occasions.

She even went to New York to see if she could catch her at her apartment, but found it had already been sold and the new owners were now living there.

If Maddie was at her office, then she was being well hidden, because Ashley tried there as well.

While Maddie's business partners had been polite, they weren't giving anything away as to where she might be.

After two days of fruitless searching, Ashley gave up and returned to Miramar empty handed.

It seemed that the New York legal community was determined to protect one of their own.

Ashley waited patiently on the dock, watching the enormous aircraft carrier approaching.

It was a bittersweet homecoming. She had missed Lee terribly and was really looking forward to seeing him. She longed to be in his arms again.

However, she was dreading having to tell Maverick that she still hadn't heard anything from Maddie and had been unable to find her.

She watched the waves created by the wake of the enormous ship break against the dock pylons and tried in vain to hold Darry back from the edge.

That kid is seriously going to fall in soon, she thought to herself, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her.

The carrier docked and gangways were put in place to let the personnel off the ship to greet their loved ones.

Ashley heard her name called above all the noise and saw Lee poised at the top of one of the gangplanks, Maverick not far behind him.

He waved madly at her and pushed his way through the throng of sailors patiently waiting their turn.

Ashley ran to the bottom of the gangplank and Lee swept her up into his arms, kissing her passionately and twirling her around.

Maverick picked Darry up and gave him a big hug.

Ashley didn't miss the fact that his smile didn't reach his eyes.

He searched the crowd, hopeful for just a brief moment, but not surprised that Maddie wasn't there waiting for him.

Lee broke away from Ashley, smiling down at her.

"God I missed you." He told her, his green eyes glowing with passion.

"I would never have noticed." Ashley answered him cheekily, hugging him tightly once more, not wanting to let go.

She turned to Maverick, placing a hand on his arm.

"I'm so sorry Mav, I've tried everywhere. It's like she has just disappeared."

"It's ok Ashley." He smiled at her sadly. "Thanks for trying. I didn't really expect that she would be here."

They left the dock, jumped in the car and headed for home.

Ashley had barely gotten the key in the door when the phone started ringing.

She dumped her bag and ran to answer it.

"Ashley, it's Sam Gray here." The voice on the other end of the phone told her.

"Sam, oh god, why didn't I think of you before?" Ashley cursed herself for not following up such an obvious lead.

"Before you start giving yourself a hard time, I didn't know where she was either." Sam told her.

"That is until now. Karen rang me and told me the whole story. I've had my spies out looking for her and I think they may have come up with something,

though Mav's not going to like it." She warned.

"Where is she Sam, he's going crazy over this."? Ashley pleaded.

Maverick had walked back downstairs and on hearing Sam's name, grabbed the receiver from Ashley.

"Sam, it's Maverick." He said. "Please tell me you know where she is."

Sam could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Mav, you'd better prepare yourself for this." She said cautiously. "My sources tell me that she's been staying at Alex Mendoza's place since she got back.

That's not all though, a friend of mine works for a fifth avenue jewelry store and she tells me that Alex was in yesterday buying a huge diamond engagement ring.

You've got to get your cute little backside up here and stop her from making a terrible mistake."

Maverick covered the receiver with his hand and yelled to his partner.

"Lee, could you get Tom to authorize a flight to New York pronto." He uncovered the receiver.

"Sam, thank you so much for this. I'll call you and let you know when I'll be there and we'll work out a place to meet up.

There is not a chance that I am going to stand back and let her walk out of my life that easily."

Half an hour later, Maverick, Lee and Ashley were on a transport heading for New York.

Karen had agreed to look after Darry.


	36. Chapter 36

**_Author's note: Well guys, this is it, the final chapter. Thanks for sticking with me and all the positive feedback along the way._**

**_I hope you are all happy with the ending. Cheers TraceMK_**

Maddie took a deep breath and stepped out of the limo that Alex had been letting her use to travel to and from work.

This was going to be the final day of what had been a grueling trial, and she found herself actually looking forward to the weekend ahead.

Alex had talked her into accompanying him to his villa in the Bahamas.

He insisted that she needed a rest, as she hadn't allowed herself to stop since she arrived back in New York.

They were due to leave as soon as she finished in court that day.

She had been surprised when he had showed up at the apartment later on the day that she had returned, and had been grateful for a friendly face and a shoulder to cry on.

He had insisted that she stay with him as the contracts had already been exchanged for her apartment and the new owners were wanting to take possession in two days.

He had organized for all her furniture to go into storage, and had basically taken care of everything.

She was happy just to let him do this, as she didn't think that she had the strength to deal with it herself.

Alex had been wonderful, he hadn't put any demands on her and had given her the space she needed.

Even now, she couldn't bring herself to even think about what had happened that terrible morning.

She threw herself into her work and that seemed to help.

Night time was the worst, as this was when she was left alone with her thoughts and memories.

She straightened her skirt, picked up her briefcase and headed up the stairs in front of the New York City Courthouse.

She was just about to enter the front doors when she heard her name called and froze on the spot.

"Maddie, please, can we talk?" Maverick was standing right behind her.

"I don't think there's really anything that I have to say to you." She reached for the door handle and walked inside.

Maverick followed close behind her.

"Maddie, please honey, give me a chance to explain." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Maddie whirled on him. " I saw everything I needed to know that weekend I came home to surprise you.

I hope you and Jillian will be very happy together, Darry must be thrilled to have his mum and dad back together.

You don't need to explain it to me Mav, family always comes first, even in my book. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm due in court."

He saw the hurt in her eyes as she turned and entered the courtroom and knew in that instant that her feelings for him still ran deep.

Maybe it wasn't too late, a plan quickly formulated in his mind.

Maddie quickly wiped her eyes and composed herself.

She hadn't been expecting that, and had underestimated just how much of an effect Maverick still had on her.

She glanced at the public gallery and saw Alex sitting there. He gave her a little wave and a smile.

She nodded her acknowledgment to him and sat down next to her client.

The judge entered and the Maddie began her summation.

She was almost finished when she heard something of a commotion in the gallery behind her.

The magistrate looked into the public gallery, annoyed at the disturbance.

Maddie's eyes rested on Maverick and she groaned inwardly. He obviously wasn't going to make this easy.

To her surprise, she also saw Sam, Lee and Ashley enter the gallery.

Sam and Lee took a seat on either side of Alex, while Maverick and Ashley made their way to the front of the gallery.

"Your Honor, I'm really sorry to interrupt proceedings but I need to speak to Counselor Harris urgently and she won't stand still long enough to listen to me." Maverick addressed the judge.

"Your Honor, I am so sorry about this…." Maddie began, but the judge interrupted her.

"And who exactly are you, young man?" He glared directly at Maverick.

"Captain Adam Mitchell, United States Navy, Your Honor." Maverick held his gaze.

Maddie whirled around and stared daggers at Maverick and the others, willing them to just leave quietly.

"You Honor, please give me a moment and I'll get them to leave." She said apologetically. "I am so sorry for the …." Again the judge interrupted her.

"Counselor Harris, I realize that you are unaccustomed to anybody else getting the better of you in a court of law,

but I feel that if the good Captain here has come all this way and has seen fit to interrupt these proceedings, then he must have something important to say,

so why don't you just be quiet and let the man speak."

Maddie looked at the judge open mouthed.

"Thank you, Your Honor." Maverick smiled at him.

He placed one hand on the gallery rail and easily vaulted it, striding to where Maddie was standing.

Alex went to get up from his seat when he felt something sharp dig into his foot and felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

He looked down to see the heel of Sam's stiletto digging into his shoe. She smiled sweetly at him.

"You stay right where you are and keep quiet, there's a good boy Alex." She said softly.

"You've done enough damage already, and if you don't do as you're told, I'm going to put this heel straight through your foot. Then I'm going to hand you over to Lee here."

Alex glanced to his right to see Lee glaring menacingly at him.

He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, but stayed where he was.

Maverick took Maddie's hand and lifted her chin so that he was looking directly into her eyes.

"I know what you think you saw, honey, but it was all a set up between Jillian and Alex." He began. "If you don't want to believe me, then ask Ashley,

she overheard the whole thing when Jillian was talking to Alex over the phone. They wanted to break us up.

How do you think he even knew when you would be back in town?"

Maddie glanced at Ashley with uncertainty and she nodded in confirmation.

"It's true Maddie, why don't you ask Alex?" Ashley looked in Alex's direction.

"Alex, is this true?" Maddie looked straight at him, her voice trembling.

He couldn't look at her as he nodded his head slightly.

Maddie turned her attention back to Maverick, totally confused now.

The public gallery as well as the judge was on the edge of their seats.

You didn't get this sort of drama in a courtroom every day.

"Maddie, you have to believe me when I say that I would never do anything to hurt you." Maverick continued sincerely.

"I love you, you're my life and I'm just no good without you."

Maddie started to cry softly as all the hurt and tension of the past few weeks began to melt away.

To her astonishment, Maverick got down on one knee in front of her and the gallery started cheering.

"Madison Harris, you are the only woman I will ever love. I want to share the rest of my life with you. Would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Maddie was completely lost for words for the first time in her life.

"Well come on Counselor, put the man and all of us out of our misery and give him an answer." The judge said from behind her.

Maverick looked up at Maddie expectantly, barely daring to breath.

"Yes." She said softly, tears spilling from her eyes. "Yes Mav. I'll marry you."

He was on his feet in an instant, sweeping her up in his arms and engulfing her mouth in a passionate kiss.

They didn't hear the cheering and clapping from the gallery behind them as the judge declared the court in recess for the rest of the day.

Being an old romantic at heart, he couldn't wait to get home and tell his wife about how the handsome Navy Captain won his girl in the end.

The End


End file.
